Foreign-trained dentist license in Utah
In short, Utah requires a CODA-accredited advanced-standing degree (no residency-only route found).
Pathway
Advanced-standing CODA DDS/DMD only. Utah Code §58-69-302(1)(c) requires 'satisfactory documentation of having successfully completed a program of professional education preparing an individual as a dentist as evidenced by having received an earned doctor's degree in dentistry from a dental school accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association.' The licensure statute contains no non-CODA or GPR/AEGD-residency alternative pathway for initial dentist licensure, so a foreign-trained dentist must obtain a CODA-accredited DDS/DMD (advanced-standing program). (Note: a recent Utah immigrant-professional/endorsement initiative may create case-by-case flexibility, but that is not a codified foreign-graduate licensure route — verify current status with DOPL.)
Required exams
National Board — NBDE Parts I & II or the iNBDE (JCNDE); plus a regional clinical licensure exam covering perio, endo, operative, class 2/3 restoration, and prosthodontics — Utah accepts CDCA, SRTA, CRDTS, CITA (and formerly WREB, retired Dec 31, 2022). Utah jurisprudence requirement applies.
Notes
Utah's dentist licensure statute admits only a CODA-accredited DDS/DMD degree — no GPR/AEGD residency pathway for a non-CODA degree. A foreign grad must complete a CODA advanced-standing DDS/DMD. Watch Utah's newer immigrant-professional endorsement rules for possible future flexibility; confirm with DOPL.
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 examsOfficial source
Utah Dentist and Dental Hygienist Licensing Board (DOPL, Dept. of Commerce)
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