In Wisconsin, the dental profession, including dentists and dental hygienists, is regulated by the Dentistry Examining Board, a subdivision of the Department of Safety and Professional Services. As you might imagine, the process of becoming a dentist is a long one, and much hard work is required, but try to keep in mind that dentists are some of the most well-paid professionals in the United States. In this guide, we'll detail all the steps involved in getting and keeping in good standing your Wisconsin dental license.

Obtaining a License

There are quite a few steps here, so let's just dive in and go in chronological order.

1. First things first: go to dental school! (You probably saw that one coming.) Wisconsin, like most states, requires dentists to have graduated from a dental college accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA). CODA helpfully provides an easily searchable directory of all its accredited DDS/DMD programs here, including schools that focus on sub-specialties like Oral Surgery. Admission to dental school is highly competitive, so make sure you do well in undergrad.

2. Now, here's where things get a bit tough. Wisconsin requires the passage of a total of three separate exams. The first is universal throughout all 50 states: you must take and pass parts 1 and 2 of the National Board Dental Examinations (click that link to find out the details). When you take the exam, make sure you inform them that you want your score submitted directly to the Wisconsin Dentistry Examining Board – they must receive it directly from the NBDE. If you take the exam and later decide to apply for Wisconsin licensure, you can request from NBDE directly through their website that Wisconsin receive your scores, both passing and failing.

3. Next, you will need to take and pass any one of a group of regional exams approved by the state of Wisconsin. You can find the list of such examinations on this document. You'll have your choice of one of three different exams, but all focus on essentially the same material. This is, in contrast to the NBDE which is a written test, a so-called “clinical examination” - you will be graded on your actual performance of dental skills and procedures.

4. After successful completion of the above, you may now fill out an application for the State of Wisconsin, which you can find on this page. There are several components to the application – you will need to disclose any previous or pending criminal charges on a separate form, and you will need your school to forward the appropriate information to the Dentistry Examining Board proving your successful graduation. The fee for applying is slightly different depending on whether you intend to take the clinical exam later, or seek to have one you already took verified: either $150 or $198. Read over the entire application here.

5. Remember I mentioned that there are three exams? Well, surprise! After you submit your application, you will receive information on how to take the exam focusing on Wisconsin medical law. The fee for this exam is included with your application.

6. Now, there are a hodgepodge of other documents to submit. You must request a self-query (or a report on yourself) from the National Practitioner Data Bank at this link. If you have any dental licenses in other jurisdictions, you must disclose them and have them send verifications of licensure and good standing to the Dentistry Examining Board. Finally, while not required to actually hold a dental license, but necessary to practice, you will submit an application for licensure to use anesthesia on patients. You can find that application here, and there is a 75 dollar application fee.

And that's it! After successful completion of the above, the Board will review your application, call you in for a personal interview, and hopefully approve it.

Note that applicants who already hold a license in another state are held to roughly the same application process, though they have obviously already passed their national and regional exam and as such can skip that step. If you wish to have your licensing state's legal exam take the place of Wisconsin's, you must submit the exam standards to the Wisconsin Board, which decides on a case by case basis whether to allow you to skip the Wisconsin-specific exam. Find out more details on the process here.

Maintaining a License

Like all medical professions, and particularly in light of the fact that you will be working with controlled substances, dentists always have to worry about potential criminal liability for misuse or extreme malpractice. You'll learn more about this topic in your dental education, but it is certainly something to keep in mind. The Board itself will begin investigations of dentists based on complaints filed by the public, and reserves the ability to suspend or revoke a license for good cause.

Wisconsin dental licenses must be renewed by September 30 of every odd year. This is the case even if you only obtained your license in the months leading up to that date. This can be done online, and you can learn all about the renewal process here.