Ethics & Licensure 

Licensure is the process whereby a state grants dentists the legal authority to practice dentistry. Each state sets its own licensure requirements. Each state also has a state dental board that monitors the licensure requirements for that state. 

Licensure Requirements:

WREB Exam

While licensure requirements differ in each state, there are 3 standard requirements that all states have: 

           1. Educational
                             - All state educational requirements are satisfied by                                 graduating from a CODA accredited dental school.
           2. Written 
                             - All licensing boards use the NBDE to satisfy their                                      written exam requirements. This has recently                                           transitioned to a single integrated exam, versus                                       the previous two part exam.
           3. Clinical
                             - There are 5 testing agencies that administer                                              clinical exams on manikins and live patients. 

- The California Clinical requirement is administered through the Western Regional Examining Board (WREB)

- WREBs utilizes electronic scoring, allowing official results to be available online within 72 hours.

- The fee for the full exam is $2,560
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- Check out the WREB website for exam preparation tips

Did you know? ASDA members receive a 10% discount on NBDE and INDBE dental decks!
Check out our membership benefits page for more information.

Meet our Ethics and Licensure Chair

The duties of the Licensure and Ethics Chair shall be: 

1. To hold seminars regarding changes in DDS/DMD licensure registration as well as WREBS/NERB/Portfolio/etc at least once a year. 
2. To keep the general student body updated with newest information regarding licensure. 
3. To hold quarterly ethics seminars pertaining topics of contemporary malpractice and ethical cases. 
4. To guide dental students in understanding licensure and addressing any questions that students may have.
5. To serve as the ASDA UCSF liaison with the Student Professionalism and Ethics Association (SPEA) UCSF Chapter. 
6. To coordinate with UCSF Administration and UCSF Dean of Education on any changes and/or updates directly related to our students on licensure.​

Arielle Miller '22
Director of Ethics & Licensure