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District of Columbia

Foreign-trained dentist license in District of Columbia

In short, District of Columbia requires a CODA-accredited advanced-standing degree (no residency-only route found).

Pathway

Advanced-standing CODA DDS/DMD only. 17 DCMR 4202.1 requires the applicant to have (a) completed a dental education program at a CODA-recognized institution at the time of graduation and (b) received a US (incl. US territories) or Canadian DDS or DMD degree. A foreign/non-CODA graduate must therefore complete a US/Canadian CODA advanced-standing DDS/DMD. A CODA GPR/AEGD residency alone does NOT satisfy the degree requirement.

Required exams

NBDE Parts I and II or the iNBDE, plus a Board-accepted regional clinical examination (e.g., ADEX; historically NERB/CDCA). WREB retired Dec 31, 2022.

Notes

17 DCMR 4202.1 language (US/Canadian CODA-recognized DDS/DMD required, degree must be US/US-territory/Canadian issued) was confirmed via secondary indexing of the DC Municipal Regulations; the source PDF (Chapter 42 Dentistry) could not be fully text-extracted, so exam specifics (NBDE vs iNBDE; ADEX vs NERB) should be verified directly on the DC Health application-documents page. Confidence set to medium pending direct read of the regulation PDF. No residency-only pathway found.

Residency pathway

No residency-only route found: the sourced state record generally points foreign-trained dentists toward a CODA-accredited DDS/DMD or advanced-standing pathway, not a residency-only route.

View residency pathwayCompare advanced-standingCompare no-repeat pathsView licensure exams

Official source

DC Board of Dentistry (DC Health, Department of Health)

Visit the District of Columbia board →

References

Last verified 2026-07-08 (research confidence: medium). Educational summary only, not legal or immigration advice. Dental licensure rules change and the details vary — confirm current requirements directly with the District of Columbia board before you act. Try the eligibility matcher.