# Wisconsin dental license renewal CE requirements

> Renewal-focused continuing education summary for Wisconsin dentists, dental hygienists, and dental assistants.

URL: https://dentovio.com/ce-requirements/wisconsin/license-renewal

Last verified: 2026-07-08

Research confidence: high

Educational summary only, not compliance advice. Renewal dates, approved-provider rules, audit rules, and mandatory topics can change. Confirm current instructions with the Wisconsin dental board before filing a renewal.

## Direct answer

For dental license renewal in Wisconsin, dentists need 30 credit hours / 2 years and dental hygienists need 12 credit hours / 2 years. Dental assistants: Dental assistants are not licensed/regulated by the state, so no state CE requirement. EFDA (Expanded Function Dental Auxiliary) certificate is permanent (no periodic renewal), but continuing education is required to maintain competency — verify current EFDA CE terms with DSPS..

## Renewal cycle and deadline notes

BIENNIAL (Wis. Admin. Code ch. DE 13; renewal biennium). DENTIST: 30 credit hrs / 2 yrs, of which not less than 25 must be clinical dentistry/medicine, and 2 hrs must cover prescribing of controlled substances for the treatment of dental pain. HYGIENIST: 12 credit hrs / 2 yrs, of which not less than 2 hrs must be infection control; no more than 2 of the 12 may be satisfied by BLS/CPR training. CE does not apply to the biennium in which a license is first issued. Records must be kept at least 6 years. No dedicated law/ethics hour mandate in the rule; no explicit blanket live-vs-self-study percentage cap found (governed by DE 13 approved-course criteria).

## Official board source

- <https://dsps.wi.gov/Pages/Professions/Dentist/Default.aspx>

## References

- Source 1: <https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/code/admin_code/de/13.pdf>
- Source 2: <https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/administrativecode/DE%2013.01>
- Source 3: <https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/447.055>
- Source 4: <https://dsps.wi.gov/Pages/Professions/Dentist/Default.aspx>
- Source 5: <https://dsps.wi.gov/Pages/Professions/EFDA/Default.aspx>

## Related

- [Wisconsin dental CE requirements](https://dentovio.com/ce-requirements/wisconsin/index.html.md)
- [Wisconsin dental CPR/BLS requirements](https://dentovio.com/dental-cpr-requirements/wisconsin/index.html.md)
- [Wisconsin online dental CE](https://dentovio.com/online-dental-ce/wisconsin/index.html.md)
- [All dental CE requirements by state](https://dentovio.com/ce-requirements/index.html.md)
- [Dental CE hours tracker](https://dentovio.com/tools/ce-tracker)