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Dental Consultant

Overview

In this career, your responsibilities may include:

Providing advice and insight to dental practices regarding matters of strategic planning, personnel management, new dental technology and research, and standards of care.
Coaching all members of dental teams – dentists, hygienists, assistants, and office staff – in best practices.
May also offer support regarding the human resources, business management, and marketing aspects of running a dental practice.

You can find more information about this career here.

Academic Requirements

Typically requires a doctorate, since most dental consultants have previously worked as practicing dentists.

Certification

Certification is not required, but could make employers more likely to hire you or offer you a higher salary.

You may be eligible for the Certified Dental Consultant credential from the American Association of Dental Consultants (AADC). You must hold a dental license in order to take the certification exam, but your non-U.S. license may be sufficient. Contact the AADC to find out if your license qualifies.
Licensure
Licensure is not required to work as a dental consultant, but most dental consultants have previously worked as licensed dentists.

Licensure is required to practice as a dentist. While licensure requirements vary by state, they all call for three basic requirements: education, written exam, and clinical exam or residency.
- Education: Internationally trained dentists are REQUIRED to first earn a U.S. DDS or DMD degree by completing a two- to three-year advanced standing program at a dental school accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA). Most, but not all, of these programs can be applied to through the ADEA Centralized Application for Advanced Placement for International Dentists (ADEA CAAPID).
- Written Exam: The old written exam, the National Board Dental Examinations (NBDE), has now been replaced with the new Integrated National Board Dental Examination (INBDE) as of July 31, 2022. While the NBDE was in two parts, the INBDE is a single exam format.
- Clinical Exam: Most U.S. licensing boards also require that candidates pass a clinical exam on either a live patient or a manikin, although some may accept or require a one-year clinical residency instead. Most clinical exams are carried out by one of four regional clinical testing agencies, depending on where you are applying for licensure, although there are exceptions. They are:
  - CDCA-WREB(formerly the Commission for Dental Competency Assessments and the Western Regional Examining Board)
  - Council of Interstate Testing Agencies (CITA)
  - Central Regional Dental Testing Services, Inc. (CRDTS)
  - Southern Regional Testing Agency, Inc. (SRTA)
You can find exam and other licensure information for your state on the American Dental Association’s searchable licensure map.