Canadian who Completed Dental School and Ortho residency in USA Move Back to Canada

[Nikoniko12]

Hi, I am Canadian who studied in Dental school and currently in Ortho residency in the states. I completed the CDCA and NBDE Part 1 and 2. I will be finishing my ortho residency in December 2025. I have not completed the NDEB. Do I need to completed both the NDEB AND the NDSE to work as an orthodontist in Canada? I heard from other residents that you only need to complete the NDSE and get something like a "limited dental specialty license" in Canada. Is this a thing?

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[DustFreeEraser]

You don’t need the Virtual OSCE from NDEB (VOSCE) as that is to have a generalist license.
You can just pass the NDSE and practice to your specialty’s full scope in Canada.

Pros of VOSCE
-Can go back to general practice in Canada if you wish
-C̶a̶n̶ ̶p̶r̶a̶c̶t̶i̶c̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶3̶ ̶S̶t̶a̶t̶e̶s̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶a̶d̶d̶i̶t̶i̶o̶n̶a̶l̶ ̶e̶x̶a̶m̶i̶n̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶s̶ ̶(̶W̶A̶,̶ ̶C̶O̶,̶ ̶M̶N̶)̶
-Can work an extra 2-3 months in Canada while you wait for your NDSE results

Cons of VOSCE
-Need to freshen up on low yield (pertaining to your ortho NDSE) topics such as restorative, prosthodontics, and endodontics.
-Less time for NDSE since you’ll be studying for VOSCE. However, many topics will overlap (e.g. oral path/omfr, perio, ortho, etc) so it wouldn’t be a complete waste of time.

Edit: Just noticed you took CDCA. Less reasons to take the VOSCE.

 

[Nikoniko12]

You don’t need the Virtual OSCE from NDEB (VOSCE) as that is to have a generalist license.
You can just pass the NDSE and practice to your specialty’s full scope in Canada.

Pros of VOSCE
-Can go back to general practice in Canada if you wish
-C̶a̶n̶ ̶p̶r̶a̶c̶t̶i̶c̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶3̶ ̶S̶t̶a̶t̶e̶s̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶a̶d̶d̶i̶t̶i̶o̶n̶a̶l̶ ̶e̶x̶a̶m̶i̶n̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶s̶ ̶(̶W̶A̶,̶ ̶C̶O̶,̶ ̶M̶N̶)̶
-Can work an extra 2-3 months in Canada while you wait for your NDSE results

Cons of VOSCE
-Need to freshen up on low yield (pertaining to your ortho NDSE) topics such as restorative, prosthodontics, and endodontics.
-Less time for NDSE since you’ll be studying for VOSCE. However, many topics will overlap (e.g. oral path/omfr, perio, ortho, etc) so it wouldn’t be a complete waste of time.

Edit: Just noticed you took CDCA. Less reasons to take the VOSCE.

Have you personally taken the NDSE for any specialty? Also thank you so much for the detailed response! Had a mini heart attack earlier this week