The residency pathway to dental licensure: the paradigm shift from inception to policy

Following decades of minimal advancement, the dental licensure reform movement has rallied around the recent introduction of a bold new concept. The New York State Dental Association has introduced and passed legislation that allows the substitution of a successfully completed dental residency program for the traditional clinical licensing examination. The residency must be one approved by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association. New York's main objective was to elevate the standards required for licensure beyond those of minimal competency. The residency experience provides extensive didactic and clinical experience in a supervised setting relevant to contemporary dental practice.