State dental board information for all 50 states

Find your state's dental board

Select your state to go directly to board contact information, licensing requirements, CE rules, and the complaint process.

What each state page covers

Every state page is built from official board sources and covers the same six topics.

• Board contacts — Mailing address, phone number, and official board website for every jurisdiction.
• Licensing requirements — Initial licensure, endorsement from another state, and renewal requirements by profession (dentist, hygienist, assistant).
• Continuing education — Total CE hours required per renewal cycle, approved subject areas, and any mandatory topics (CPR, infection control, opioid prescribing).
• Complaint process — What dental boards investigate, how to submit a complaint, and what happens after you file.
• License verification — How to use each state's official practitioner lookup to check a license status, expiration date, and any public disciplinary history.

What a state dental board does

Each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia has a dental regulatory board. Boards are government agencies — typically within a state's department of health or consumer protection — not professional associations.

Their four core functions:

• Licensure. Boards issue and renew licenses for dentists, dental hygienists, and in most states dental assistants. They set the education and examination requirements for initial licensure and the conditions for endorsement (transferring a license from another state).
• Continuing education. Most states require dentists to complete 20 to 30 hours of CE per renewal cycle. Boards specify which subject areas count, which providers are approved, and whether topics like opioid prescribing education or infection control are mandatory.
• Complaint investigation. When a patient or colleague files a complaint, the board investigates. Possible outcomes range from dismissal to a formal reprimand, probation, suspension, or license revocation.
• Disciplinary records. Boards publish formal disciplinary actions. Most states report significant actions to the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB), a federal repository that tracks adverse actions and malpractice payments across professions and states.

Dental boards do not handle billing disputes directly — those typically go to your state insurance commissioner or small claims court. But patient care complaints, professional misconduct, and allegations of unauthorized practice are all within board jurisdiction.

How to use this site

The fastest path is the dropdown near the top of this page. Select your state and you go directly to that board's page.

If you're looking at multiple states — for endorsement, job searches, or comparing CE requirements — the state boards directory lists every jurisdiction in a single table.

The national guides cover two common tasks in detail:

• The complaint guide explains what dental boards investigate, how to write an effective complaint, and what to expect during the review process.
• The license verification guide explains how to use official state lookup tools, what the status fields mean, and what to do if a search turns up a restriction or lapse.

Each state page also links directly to the board's official website and, where available, to the practitioner license search tool.

How information on this site is sourced

Each state page is compiled from official sources: the board's website, the state's administrative code, and published board rules. Each page shows a "last verified" date indicating when the content was last reviewed against those sources.

This site is an independent informational resource. It is not affiliated with any state dental board, the American Dental Association, or any government agency. No content here constitutes legal or professional advice.

Common questions about state dental boards