# Colorado dental license requirements

> Source-backed dentist licensure pathway, exam, residency, endorsement, reciprocity, and official-board signals for Colorado.

URL: https://dentovio.com/dental-license-requirements/colorado

Last verified: 2026-07-08

Dentovio is not a dental board. Confirm current application forms, education rules, exam acceptance, score windows, jurisprudence requirements, endorsement eligibility, reciprocity, credentialing, fees, and foreign-trained exceptions directly with Colorado Dental Board (DORA — Division of Professions and Occupations).

## Direct answer

For dentist license requirements in Colorado, Dentovio's sourced licensure record highlights education/pathway language, exam signals, and any residency, endorsement, reciprocity, or credentialing notes it could isolate. Education/pathway signal: Advanced-standing CODA DDS/DMD only. Colorado Dental Board Rule (3 CCR 709-1) requires a doctorate (DDS/DMD) from a CODA-approved (or, by reciprocity, CDAC-accredited) dental school. Exam signal: Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations (iNBDE, which replaced NBDE Parts I/II) plus a Board-accepted clinical competency exam (ADEX/CDCA-WREB-CITA family; WREB retired Dec 31, 2022). Confirm current requirements, application forms, score windows, endorsement eligibility, and foreign-trained exceptions with Colorado Dental Board (DORA — Division of Professions and Occupations).

## Education and pathway signal

Advanced-standing CODA DDS/DMD only. Colorado Dental Board Rule (3 CCR 709-1) requires a doctorate (DDS/DMD) from a CODA-approved (or, by reciprocity, CDAC-accredited) dental school. A foreign/non-CODA graduate must earn a US CODA DDS/DMD, generally via a 2–3 year advanced-standing program. A CODA GPR/AEGD residency alone does NOT substitute for the degree. The only narrow exception is licensure by endorsement under the Occupational Credential Portability Program (12-20-202(3), C.R.S.) for someone already licensed and in good standing in another US state/territory.

## Exam signal

Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations (iNBDE, which replaced NBDE Parts I/II) plus a Board-accepted clinical competency exam (ADEX/CDCA-WREB-CITA family; WREB retired Dec 31, 2022). Regulation leaves specific clinical exam to Board discretion.

## Endorsement, reciprocity, or credentials signal

Colorado Dental Board Rule (3 CCR 709-1) requires a doctorate (DDS/DMD) from a CODA-approved (or, by reciprocity, CDAC-accredited) dental school. The only narrow exception is licensure by endorsement under the Occupational Credential Portability Program (12-20-202(3), C.

## Residency signal

No residency-only substitute for the required dental degree was isolated in this sourced state record.

## Notes

Rule text: foreign grad must 'obtain a doctorate of dental surgery or a doctorate of dental medicine from a dental school approved by CODA' (or CDAC by reciprocity). No residency-only pathway. Colorado recently defended the CODA requirement against legislative attempts to modify it. Board URL is DORA's dental page (dpo.colorado.gov/Dental); verify current clinical-exam acceptance directly with the Board.

## Official sources

- <https://dpo.colorado.gov/Dental>
- <https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/colorado/3-CCR-709-1.6>
- <https://www.sos.state.co.us/CCR/GenerateRulePdf.do?ruleVersionId=12447&fileName=3+CCR+709-1>
- <https://www.ada.org/resources/careers/licensure/licensure-for-the-international-dentists>

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