Going to other state(s) after graduating from a dental school

[SobeLifes]

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I have acceptance from schools across many states and wondering if I go dental school in NY and want to practice in NV or CA, how difficult is the transition?
Is dental license all approved across states? - I heard this is happening with new change in dental board (except CA and Texas)
Just wanted to ask how difficult it is to practice in different states after graduating from a dental school

 

[dent_wannabe]

Getting a DDS or DMD degree from any US or Canadian school allows you to fulfill the educational requirement for all 50 states. There are five different "brands" of clinical boards (but they're all essentially the same thing, it's annoying how there has to be this mess), so you need to figure out what the state you wish to practice in accepts. Most schools will only host one of the five, and it would be one that their own state would accept. The thing with NY is they require a minimum one year residency in order to get licensed in their state, but no clinical board. Since schools generally go with the assumption that its graduates will remain in their state to practice, a NY school might not host these clinical boards, and they might withhold more involved clinical procedures from your clinical training saying that you will learn it during residency.

 

[SobeLifes]

Getting a DDS or DMD degree from any US or Canadian school allows you to fulfill the educational requirement for all 50 states. There are five different "brands" of clinical boards (but they're all essentially the same thing, it's annoying how there has to be this mess), so you need to figure out what the state you wish to practice in accepts. Most schools will only host one of the five, and it would be one that their own state would accept. The thing with NY is they require a minimum one year residency in order to get licensed in their state, but no clinical board. Since schools generally go with the assumption that its graduates will remain in their state to practice, a NY school might not host these clinical boards, and they might withhold more involved clinical procedures from your clinical training saying that you will learn it during residency.

Ok! Make perfect sense! So it is just tedious process to go other state since I have to take their board let's say going from NY -> NV/CA probably take 1~2 year just to get those things done - if I am thinking correctly.

 

[dent_wannabe]

Ok! Make perfect sense! So it is just tedious process to go other state since I have to take their board let's say going from NY -> NV/CA probably take 1~2 year just to get those things done - if I am thinking correctly.

For NY specifically, it can be a pain just because of that particular state's odd ball requirement. Check out this link: Dental Licensure by State Map. CA and NV accept CDCA, CITA, and WREB. So if you go to a dental school which hosts any of these three, you can easily get licensed back in CA or NV.

 

[lemoncurry]

Ok! Make perfect sense! So it is just tedious process to go other state since I have to take their board let's say going from NY -> NV/CA probably take 1~2 year just to get those things done - if I am thinking correctly.

I recommend you figure out where you want to practice and then that will influence what regional boards exam you take. Regardless of where you go, however, there is a fairly tedious application process where you have to submit all your boards scores and take a jurisprudence exam and pay a huge amount of money.

 

[schmoob]

Delaware also requires a PG program

 

[mmc12]

It seems like the CDCA exam is accepted in nearly all of the US States. See the following map:

ADEX | CDCA

www.cdcaexams.org

 

[SobeLifes]

It seems like the CDCA exam is accepted in nearly all of the US States. See the following map:

ADEX | CDCA

www.cdcaexams.org

Is this something I am eligible to take after graduating?

 

[sjv]

Is this something I am eligible to take after graduating?

You can take it while you're a student or after you graduate, check the dates on the website.

 

[AppalachianDentalBoy]

You can take it while you're a student or after you graduate, check the dates on the website.

So if I were to go to school in TX but want to practice in Arizona or California I’d take WREB, but if I wanted to practice in Maine I’d need to take the CDCA?

What happens if you have a midlife crisis and want to move states? Do you have to retake the exams?

 

[Blueshirts]

So if I were to go to school in TX but want to practice in Arizona or California I’d take WREB, but if I wanted to practice in Maine I’d need to take the CDCA?

What happens if you have a midlife crisis and want to move states? Do you have to retake the exams?

I believe that is the case. I remember hearing something about 1 of the faculty at my school who had moved from across the country having to take the exam in order to satisfy license requirements.

 

[dent_wannabe]

So if I were to go to school in TX but want to practice in Arizona or California I’d take WREB, but if I wanted to practice in Maine I’d need to take the CDCA?

What happens if you have a midlife crisis and want to move states? Do you have to retake the exams?

Most (but not all) states have some reciprocity agreement, where if you had been licensed in another state for some period of time, you can easily apply for a license in that state. However, if you have not practiced for the amount of time asked for, then you may have to take one of the exams they accept.

 

[lemoncurry]

So if I were to go to school in TX but want to practice in Arizona or California I’d take WREB, but if I wanted to practice in Maine I’d need to take the CDCA?

What happens if you have a midlife crisis and want to move states? Do you have to retake the exams?

As mentioned, usually after about 5 years of practice (depending on the state) you should be able to move without having to take the boards again. But by that time, it would be a piece of cake.