# South Dakota dental license requirements

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

URL: https://dentovio.com/dental-license-requirements/south-dakota

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 South Dakota State Board of Dentistry.

## Direct answer

For dentist license requirements in South Dakota, 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: Statutorily open but discretionary/board-reviewed — verify with the Board. SDCL §36-6A-44 states: 'Any foreign-trained or any other graduate from a dental program not accredited by [CODA] may apply for a license to practice as a dentist,' and directs the. Exam signal: National Board (JCNDE) — NBDE Parts I & II or the iNBDE; plus a board-approved clinical competency exam (patient-, simulation-, or manikin-based) — SD accepts ADEX (CDCA-WREB-CITA) and CRDTS+SRTA. (WREB retired Dec 31, 2022.) Confirm current requirements, application forms, score windows, endorsement eligibility, and foreign-trained exceptions with South Dakota State Board of Dentistry.

## Education and pathway signal

Statutorily open but discretionary/board-reviewed — verify with the Board. SDCL §36-6A-44 states: 'Any foreign-trained or any other graduate from a dental program not accredited by [CODA] may apply for a license to practice as a dentist,' and directs the Board to 'establish requirements to reasonably ensure that an applicant's training and education are sufficient for licensure.' Unlike TX/TN/SC/UT, SD does NOT categorically limit licensure to a CODA DDS/DMD or ADA specialty program; a non-CODA graduate may apply, with the Board determining sufficiency of training/education case-by-case. The published admin rule (ARSD 20:43:03:01) primarily details the CODA-accredited US dental school route, so the exact non-CODA requirements are not clearly codified — confirm directly with the Board.

## Exam signal

National Board (JCNDE) — NBDE Parts I & II or the iNBDE; plus a board-approved clinical competency exam (patient-, simulation-, or manikin-based) — SD accepts ADEX (CDCA-WREB-CITA) and CRDTS+SRTA. (WREB retired Dec 31, 2022.) SD statutes/rules jurisprudence exam (min. 70%) required.

## Endorsement, reciprocity, or credentials signal

Dentovio did not isolate a licensure-by-endorsement, reciprocity, credentialing, or portability signal in this sourced state record. Verify current out-of-state license options directly with the dental board.

## Residency signal

Dentovio marked the residency pathway as unclear from the available source record; verify directly with the board before relying on a residency route.

## Notes

Distinctive: SD statute expressly permits non-CODA/foreign-trained applicants to apply, with Board discretion over sufficiency of training. Whether a CODA GPR/AEGD residency (vs. a bridging DDS/DMD) satisfies this is not codified — the SD Legislature rules site is a JS app that could not be scraped; verify current 20:43:03 requirements and any bridging/residency expectations directly with the Board.

## Official sources

- <https://www.sdboardofdentistry.org/>
- <https://www.ada.org/en/resources/licensure>
- <https://sdlegislature.gov/Rules/Administrative/20:43:03>
- <https://law.justia.com/codes/south-dakota/title-36/chapter-06a/section-36-6a-44/>

## Related

- [All dental license requirements by state](https://dentovio.com/dental-license-requirements/index.html.md)
- [Dental license by state](https://dentovio.com/dental-license-by-state/index.html.md)
- [South Dakota dental license reciprocity](https://dentovio.com/dental-license-reciprocity/south-dakota/index.html.md)
- [South Dakota dental licensure exams](https://dentovio.com/dental-licensure-exams/south-dakota/index.html.md)
- [South Dakota foreign-trained dentist licensure](https://dentovio.com/foreign-trained-dentist-license/south-dakota/index.html.md)
- [South Dakota dental board](https://dentovio.com/dental-boards/south-dakota/index.html.md)
- [South Dakota dental license lookup](https://dentovio.com/dental-license-lookup/south-dakota/index.html.md)
- [South Dakota dental license renewal](https://dentovio.com/dental-license-renewal/south-dakota/index.html.md)