Maine dental license requirements: exams, fees, and licensure by endorsement

Licensing is the one thing that can push a start date. This is what the Maine Board of Dental Practice requires as of late 2026, with the Board's own documents linked at the bottom. Rules change, so confirm with the Board before you file.

Who issues it

The Maine Board of Dental Practice, in Augusta. Applications are online. The Board's checklist for dentist licensure is the authoritative list; this article is a plain-English walk-through of it.

The standard route (new graduates)

• Degree. A DDS or DMD from a CODA-accredited program. Graduates of non-accredited programs need an educational equivalency report from a NACES member service.
• Written exam. National Board Dental Examination Parts I and II, or the Integrated National Board Dental Examination (INBDE).
• Clinical exam. A regional exam the Board accepts. The ADA's state summary lists ADEX (which now includes the former CDCA-WREB-CITA exams), CRDTS and SRTA.
• Jurisprudence exam. Maine's own open-book test on its dental laws and rules, administered by the Board. Passing score is 90%.
• CPR. Current Basic Life Support certification with a hands-on component. Online-only courses aren't accepted.
• Background check. A Maine criminal history check is part of the application.

Fees

For a standard dentist license, the Board's checklist totals $871: a $21 background check, a $100 application fee and a $750 license fee. A resident dentist license (for residency programs) is $671. A temporary license is $250.

Already licensed somewhere else? Licensure by endorsement

Maine's statute lets the Board waive the written and clinical exams for a dentist licensed in another state, US territory or foreign country. The main route is showing a substantially equivalent, valid license for at least three consecutive years immediately before applying. There's an alternative route for dentists whose qualifications are substantially similar to Maine's initial requirements, which the Board judges case by case.

What the Board asks for under its rules:

• Verification that every license you hold or have held is in good standing, covering those three years.
• Documentation of the laws and rules of the states where you were licensed.
• A CV covering the three-year period, with references.
• Current BLS certification.
• The Maine jurisprudence exam. Endorsement doesn't skip it.

The fee is the same $871. There's no in-person Board interview in the current statute.

One thing to ignore: some third-party sites quote a specific number of practice hours or CE hours for endorsement. Those aren't in Maine's statute or rules. Use the Board's documents.

How long it takes

The Board doesn't publish a processing time, and it depends on how fast other state boards return verifications. Dentists we've worked with have generally allowed six to ten weeks from a complete application. The slow part is almost always the other states, so request those verifications the day you decide to apply.

Two things that can't start until you have a Maine license number: your DEA registration at a Maine address, and insurance credentialing at the practice, which can take 60 to 120 days on its own. Our relocation checklist puts these in order.

Residents and students

Dentists in a Maine residency program apply for a resident dentist license. Final-year students can usually apply for the full license before graduation and have it issued on proof of the degree, which is worth doing if you have a Maine start date in the summer.

What we do

If you take an offer through us, we send you the Board's checklist with your offer, chase the state verifications with you, and keep the practice informed about the date, so a licensing delay never surprises anyone on their first week.