Category Archives: Licensure

Licensure Reform: The case for expanding interstate portability

The barriers for dentists to easily move across state lines, aka “portability”/”reciprocity,” has been a sore issue for the dental profession for many years. Dr. Jonathan Nash, who served as the American Student Dental Association chair of dental licensure reform in 1971, strongly believes that if the profession can summon the will to pursue an anti-trust initiative on… Read More »

Licensure Reform: The case for eliminating the clinical exam

Some may argue that progress has indeed been made in the administration of the licensure exam over the last 50 years given that regional testing authorities have increased from two in 1971 to the current number of five. Although undoubtedly there has been improvement in the uniformity, the ease of test-taking, and the administration of the examination, the… Read More »

The turning point in dental licensure modernization is upon us

Whenever and wherever dentists gather, there are few conversational topics which generate more professional unity than the archaic licensure process and fragmented portability landscape which still, in 2019, significantly restrict dentists’ freedom of movement to live and practice anywhere in the United States. The reality is that these regional exams, centered on single-snapshot-in-time procedures on patients, are inherently… Read More »

New coalition calls for the modernization of the initial dental licensure process

Calling for the modernization of the dental licensure process, the ADA, the American Dental Education Association and American Student Dental Association have teamed up to become the founding members of the Coalition for Modernizing Dental Licensure, according to ADA News. The Coalition, officially founded Oct. 1, has set two key goals: Replacing the single encounter, procedure-based patient exams… Read More »

ADA Board of Trustees approves development of national dental licensure exam

The ADA took a giant step forward in February to create a national exam to assess a licensure candidate’s entry-level clinical knowledge, skills and competency — while averting the potential ethical issues involved in the use of patients for dental licensure examinations, according to ADA News. The ADA Board of Trustees voted last month to approve the development… Read More »

In seeking to address ethical dilemmas, new licensure exam shifts focus on patients

Buffalo, N.Y. — Every year, hundreds of patients enter the halls of dental schools throughout the country volunteering to receive treatment as part of a clinical licensing exam for graduating dental students. Some of these patients have waited weeks and months to have dental care provided during the clinical exam process. For the vast majority, the treatment is… Read More »