# West Virginia dental license requirements > Source-backed dentist licensure pathway, exam, residency, endorsement, reciprocity, and official-board signals for West Virginia. URL: https://dentovio.com/dental-license-requirements/west-virginia 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 West Virginia Board of Dentistry. ## Direct answer For dentist license requirements in West Virginia, 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-style CODA program required (2+ years), which functions as a residency route only if it is a 2-year advanced program: W.Va. CSR 5-1-3.5 lets the Board license a foreign-dental-school graduate who holds certification of a TWO-YEAR (or more) Exam signal: National board exam by the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations (JCNDE) — iNBDE/NBDE; plus a clinical exam administered by CDCA, CRDTS, CITA, SRTA, or WREB (or successor); plus the West Virginia Dental Law exam. Confirm current requirements, application forms, score windows, endorsement eligibility, and foreign-trained exceptions with West Virginia Board of Dentistry. ## Education and pathway signal Advanced-standing-style CODA program required (2+ years), which functions as a residency route only if it is a 2-year advanced program: W.Va. CSR 5-1-3.5 lets the Board license a foreign-dental-school graduate who holds certification of a TWO-YEAR (or more) advanced general dentistry training program from a US/Canadian CODA-accredited school; 5-1-3.6 similarly allows a 2-year (or more) CODA-accredited dental specialty advanced education program. A one-year GPR/AEGD alone does NOT confer full licensure. Without such 2-year CODA training, foreign-trained dentists are limited to intern/resident/teaching permits (5-1-3.3/3.4). ## Exam signal National board exam by the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations (JCNDE) — iNBDE/NBDE; plus a clinical exam administered by CDCA, CRDTS, CITA, SRTA, or WREB (or successor); plus the West Virginia Dental Law exam. ## 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 Residency or advanced education is flagged as a possible pathway signal in the sourced state record; verify degree, program, exam, and applicant-status conditions with the board. ## Notes Board policy explicitly declined to grant full licensure to foreign-trained, US-board-certified specialists without a clinical board exam (WV biennium report). So the accepted route is a 2+ year CODA advanced general dentistry OR specialty program PLUS the required national + clinical exams. This is more restrictive than a 1-year GPR/AEGD pathway. Board contact toll-free (877) 914-8266. ## Official sources - - - - ## 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) - [West Virginia dental license reciprocity](https://dentovio.com/dental-license-reciprocity/west-virginia/index.html.md) - [West Virginia dental licensure exams](https://dentovio.com/dental-licensure-exams/west-virginia/index.html.md) - [West Virginia foreign-trained dentist licensure](https://dentovio.com/foreign-trained-dentist-license/west-virginia/index.html.md) - [West Virginia dental board](https://dentovio.com/dental-boards/west-virginia/index.html.md) - [West Virginia dental license lookup](https://dentovio.com/dental-license-lookup/west-virginia/index.html.md) - [West Virginia dental license renewal](https://dentovio.com/dental-license-renewal/west-virginia/index.html.md)