How to Pass North Carolina’s Dental Exams

Preparing for North Carolina licensure by credentials means studying two written subjects: Jurisprudence and Sterilization and Infection Control. Each requires a passing score of at least 80%. Plan for both subjects, even if one feels familiar from years in practice. ^{1 2}

This guide helps dentist applicants find the relevant sources, organize their study, and understand the application and retake rules. Start with the exam facts, choose a study schedule, and keep a short record of the distinctions you need to revisit. The study topics and schedules below are Dentovio suggestions, not an official examination blueprint.

Exam facts

The North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners provides online access to the two written examinations. Its examination page lists anesthesia and sedation examinations separately; those are not the two subjects covered here. ^{3 4}

These requirements come from G.S. 90-36 and 21 NCAC 16B .0303, .0317, and .0501. The Board may require additional applicant-specific examinations, interviews, or information; completing these two subjects is not a promise that your entire application is complete. ^{1 2}

The public dentist materials reviewed do not establish permitted references, question counts, duration, detailed subject weights, or proctoring arrangements. Online access does not settle those details. Follow the current instructions issued for your own examination access. ^{3 4}

Confirm your licensing pathway

Start at the Board's dentist application page and choose the route that applies to you. Licensure by credentials has education, practice-history, examination-evidence, and other requirements beyond the two written subjects. An existing license or a long career does not, by itself, establish eligibility. ^{1 3}

Read the current credentials rule alongside G.S. 90-36. The rule includes practice-history evidence and direct submission of specified documents, including examination scores and licensing information. Keep a checklist showing what you requested, who must send it, and whether the Board has received it. ²

There are important advanced-education provisions. G.S. 90-36(b1)(2) addresses applicants with a general dental degree and a qualifying advanced dental education certificate or degree. The current rule, amended August 1, 2026, allows qualifying clinical-care hours from that advanced program toward its 5,000-hour requirement. Paragraph .0501(e) also contains an exception to holding a U.S. state or territorial dental license. These provisions do not waive every other condition; read them in full rather than assuming that an internationally earned dental degree makes someone eligible or ineligible. ^{1 2}

Keep the application clock separate from your study calendar. A partial credentials application expires without a fee refund if it is not completed within one year of the first document submitted to the Board. Completion includes the required documentation and passing examination scores. Confirm your own file's status before planning around an assumed deadline. ²

What to study for Jurisprudence

Jurisprudence preparation concerns the rules governing dental practice in North Carolina. Use the Dental Practice Act and applicable Board rules to build a study map. The following organization is a practical reading sequence, not a claim about the number of questions in any category. ¹

• Licensure and professional maintenance: application routes, written examinations, renewal, continuing education, and relevant course categories. Separate initial licensing requirements from ongoing obligations. ^{2 5}
• Patient duties and professional conduct: records, patient communications, consent questions, and grounds for disciplinary action. Write down which person, request, or event activates a rule. ^{1 6}
• Auxiliary duties and supervision: distinguish the task, the worker's classification and qualifications, the required supervision, and the setting. Avoid reducing every delegation question to whether a dentist is nearby. ^{7 8}
• Prescribing and advertising: identify which source governs the particular issue. For a prescription question, read the applicable category and exception rather than importing another state's number or deadline. ^{9 10}
• Special practice settings and permissions: recognize when a separate permit or setting-specific rule needs to be consulted. Anesthesia and sedation rules are one example of a separate permission framework. ¹¹

For each topic, make a card with four fields: who, trigger, requirement, exception. Add the source paragraph. A card that says only “records deadline” is incomplete; it should identify the request and the applicable rule. This method makes your notes usable when a question changes one important detail.

What to study for Sterilization and Infection Control

Start with North Carolina's connection to the underlying guidance. Rule 16J .0103 addresses manufacturer specifications and requires dental settings to comply with CDC recommendations and guidelines directed at or applicable to dental settings, including subsequent changes. All licensees share responsibility for infection prevention. ¹²

Organize your reading into six areas:

1. Standard Precautions: the baseline precautions used for patient care regardless of whether infection is known or suspected. ¹³
2. Hands and protective equipment: hand hygiene, gloves, masks, eye protection, and respiratory hygiene. Study the purpose and limits of each measure. ¹³
3. Instrument processing: cleaning, preparation, packaging, sterilization, monitoring, and storage. Distinguish the process from the checks used to evaluate it. ¹⁴
4. The treatment environment: surfaces, dental unit water, laboratory items, and the prevention of contamination between areas. ¹⁴
5. Sharps, injections, and occupational exposure: safe handling, prevention, and locating the appropriate exposure-response guidance. ^{14 13}
6. Program oversight: use the CDC checklist to identify topics and practices that need closer review. ¹⁵

Keep device-specific questions tied to the correct instructions. A general study summary cannot supply a universal cycle, product compatibility decision, or contact time for every device. North Carolina expressly addresses manufacturer specifications in its sterilization rule. ¹²

Study contrasts, not isolated slogans: cleaning versus sterilization, a surface versus a packaged instrument, and a physical cycle reading versus a biological test. Ask what each observation establishes and what it leaves unanswered.

Free official study resources

Build a small source folder you can navigate. You do not need to collect every third-party summary before beginning.

• Board dentist application page: your starting point for the correct application route and current Board access links. ³
• Board online examination page: the official link to the paired written subjects. Use the instructions provided through your own access for examination mechanics. ⁴
• Dental Practice Act and Board rules: use the current statute and the relevant rule subchapter together. Start with 16B for dentist licensing and 16J for infection-control requirements. ^{1 2 12}
• CDC Summary of Infection Prevention Practices in Dental Settings: an accessible starting point with a companion checklist and links to fuller guidance. The summary does not replace the complete guidelines. ¹⁵
• CDC's full dental guideline and current topic pages: use these to resolve the details behind a summary, including sterilization monitoring. The CDC continues to identify its 2003 dental guideline as a standard of clinical practice despite its archived status. Read it with later guidance. ^{14 16 15}

Save the title, paragraph or section, and date accessed beside each note. If two summaries disagree, return to the applicable current authority. Another state's preparation course or an applicant's recollection cannot establish a North Carolina requirement.

Build your study plan

Choose a five-session or ten-session starting plan. These are suggested study sequences, not measured preparation times. A session may need several sittings. Add time when source reading or practice reveals gaps; completing a schedule is not evidence of readiness by itself.

Give each session a concrete output: a source map, a comparison, or a corrected explanation. For example, the auxiliary session can end with a checklist of the facts you must identify before applying a delegation rule.

Begin the next session by explaining yesterday's difficult points without reading your answer first. Then check the source and correct the explanation. Keep the two subjects visible in your plan; confidence in familiar clinical routines should not crowd out the law reading, or vice versa.

Practice and correct mistakes

Use practice to discover which distinctions you understand. Before revealing an answer, explain your choice and identify the source that would settle it. When an answer is correct only by guessing, treat the topic as unfinished.

Consider this original study exercise: A learner points to a sterilizer's temperature, pressure, and exposure-time record and calls it a biological test. What is the correction? Those readings are mechanical monitoring. Biological monitoring uses a spore test; chemical monitoring uses indicators that respond to specified conditions. The three methods contribute different information, and the CDC recommends using them together. ¹⁶

The useful correction is not an answer letter. It is: “I confused a physical cycle record with a biological indicator.” Next, locate the source's separate headings and explain the distinction again using a different example. This exercise teaches source use; it is not a recalled Board question.

Keep an error log with five entries: topic, missed distinction, corrected explanation, source, next review. Review why an alternative answer fails, including whether it belongs to another profession, another setting, or a different trigger. Practice scores can guide your next reading; they cannot guarantee an official result.

Prepare for exam day

Well before an attempt, check the instructions supplied for your own Board examination access. Confirm:

• Permitted books, notes, websites, or other references.
• Duration, question navigation, and any break rules.
• Device, browser, connection, identification, and proctoring requirements, if applicable.
• How to report a technical problem and receive results.
• Any examination or retake charge and how another attempt is arranged.

This is a confirmation checklist, not a statement that a particular restriction or fee applies. The reviewed public dentist pages do not answer all these questions. Do not copy another candidate's setup or assume that “online” means you may use outside assistance. ^{3 4}

Studying with references open can help you learn source navigation. Practicing without them can help you identify recall gaps. Neither study choice determines the official materials policy. Follow the instructions governing the examination itself.

Retakes and next steps

After a failed written attempt, .0317(b) allows two additional attempts during the twelve months from the initial examination, with a minimum 72-hour wait before retaking it. Record actual attempt dates and use any available result information to direct further study. ²

Credentials applicants must also read .0501(d). If an applicant does not pass either written examination after three attempts within one year, the general additional-study reexamination provision in .0317(c) does not apply, and the applicant may not reapply for licensure by credentials. Do not assume an ordinary retake or a preparation course can override that restriction. Ask the Board to address your individual application status. ²

After passing, check that the Board has received the scores and every remaining required document. Written examination success is one part of licensing; it does not authorize you to begin practice before the license is issued and properly displayed. ^{2 3}

Frequently asked questions

Are these examinations open-book or closed-book?

The public dentist-specific sources reviewed do not establish that policy. Follow your current Board examination instructions. Guidance for a dental hygiene program does not establish the rule for dentist candidates. ^{3 4}

Is 80% required on each examination?

Yes. Rule .0303(a) requires at least 80% on the sterilization and jurisprudence examinations. A higher score on one does not compensate for failing the other. ²

How long should I study?

Use the suggested five- or ten-session plan as a starting point. Extend it until you can explain the distinctions you missed and find their sources. No study duration or practice score in this guide predicts a pass.

Do experienced dentists still need both written subjects for credentials?

G.S. 90-36(d) requires the two examinations for the credentials pathway. Experience matters to the broader application, but it is not a substitute for these written requirements. ¹

Does this guide provide official questions or continuing-education credit?

No. This is independent educational preparation with original study material. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Board, does not reproduce official examination questions, and does not award CE or required infection-control training credit. Use the Board and applicable authorities for official requirements and individual licensing decisions.

Footnotes

Footnotes

1. North Carolina Dental Practice Act, G.S. Chapter 90 Article 2; especially G.S. 90-36(a)–(d), including advanced-education provision (b1)(2), and G.S. 90-41 disciplinary grounds. Dental Practice Act. Checked 2026-09-08. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

2. 21 NCAC 16B; .0303(a) passing standard, .0317(b) retake interval/attempts, .0501(a)–(c) credentials evidence and application expiration, .0501(d) credentials failure consequence, and .0501(e) advanced-education exceptions. Section .0501 amended effective August 1, 2026. Dentist licensing rules. Checked 2026-09-08. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

3. North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners, Dental Licensure; application pathways, credentials, written subjects, online access, and license issuance/display. Board dentist application page. Checked 2026-09-08. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

4. North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners, Online Examinations; separate links for Infection Control/Sterilization and Jurisprudence, and Anesthesia/Sedation. Board online examination page. Checked 2026-09-08. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

5. 21 NCAC 16R, Continuing Education; especially .0101, .0201–.0206. Dentist renewal and education rules. Checked 2026-09-08. ↩

6. 21 NCAC 16T .0101–.0104; patient records, informed-consent documentation, patient access, closure, and transfer. Patient records rules. Checked 2026-09-08. ↩

7. 21 NCAC 16H, especially .0101–.0103: dental assistant classifications, permitted functions, and supervision. Dental assistant rules. Checked 2026-09-08. ↩

8. 21 NCAC 16G .0101 and .0103; dental hygienist delegation, supervision, and prohibited procedures. Dental hygienist delegation rules. Checked 2026-09-08. ↩

9. G.S. 90-106, Prescriptions and labeling; controlled-substance categories and prescribing provisions. Prescription statute. Checked 2026-09-08. ↩

10. 21 NCAC 16P .0101–.0105; professional advertising and related qualifications/disclosures. Dental advertising rules. Checked 2026-09-08. ↩

11. 21 NCAC 16Q, General Anesthesia and Sedation; separate permits, qualifications, and requirements. Anesthesia and sedation rules. Checked 2026-09-08. ↩

12. 21 NCAC 16J .0101–.0103; .0103(a) manufacturer specifications, (b) incorporation of applicable CDC dental guidance, and (c) licensee responsibility. NC sanitation and infection-control rules. Checked 2026-09-08. ↩ ↩² ↩³

13. CDC, Standard Precautions; definition and sections on hands/PPE, respiratory hygiene, sharps, and injection safety. CDC Standard Precautions. Checked 2026-09-08. ↩ ↩² ↩³

14. CDC, Guidelines for Infection Control in Dental Health-Care Settings—2003; Personnel Health, Sterilization and Disinfection of Patient-Care Items, Environmental Infection Control, Dental Unit Waterlines, and Special Considerations including Dental Laboratory. CDC dental infection-control guideline. Checked 2026-09-08. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

15. CDC, Summary of Infection Prevention Practices in Dental Settings; Notes to reader, checklist/full-guideline links, and continuing status of the 2003 guidance. CDC summary and checklist overview. Checked 2026-09-08. ↩ ↩² ↩³

16. CDC, Best Practices for Sterilization Monitoring in Dental Settings; Why it matters and Mechanical monitoring, Chemical monitoring, and Biological monitoring. CDC sterilization monitoring guidance. Checked 2026-09-08. ↩ ↩²