2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 61 - Professional and Occupational Licenses › Article 5A - Dental Health Care › Section 61-5A-12 - Dentists; requirements for licensure; specialty license.

A. All applicants for licensure as a dentist shall have graduated and received a degree from a school of dentistry that is accredited by the commission on dental accreditation and shall have passed the written portion of the dental examination administered by the joint commission on national dental examinations of the American dental association or, if the test is not available, another written examination determined by the board.
B. Applicants for a general license to practice dentistry by examination shall be required, in addition to the requirements set forth in Subsection A of this section, to pass a test covering the laws and rules for the practice of dentistry in New Mexico. Written examinations shall be supplemented by the board or its agents by administering to each applicant a practical or clinical examination that reasonably tests the applicant's qualifications to practice general dentistry. These examinations shall include examinations offered by the central regional dental testing service, northeast regional board of dental examiners, southern regional testing agency or western regional examining board or any other comparable practical clinical examination the board approves; provided, however, that the board may disapprove any examination after it considers compelling evidence to support disapproval. Upon an applicant passing the written and clinical examinations and payment in advance of the necessary fees, the board shall issue a license to practice dentistry.
C. The board may issue a general license to practice dentistry, by credentials, without a practical or clinical examination to an applicant who is duly licensed by a clinical examination as a dentist under the laws of another state or territory of the United States; provided that license is active and that all dental licenses that individual possesses have been in good standing for five years prior to application. The credentials must show that no dental board actions have been taken during the five years prior to application; that no proceedings are pending in any states in which the applicant has had a license in the five years prior to application; and that a review of public records, the national practitioner data bank or other nationally recognized data resources that record actions against a dentist in the United States does not reveal any activities or unacquitted civil or criminal charges that could reasonably be construed to constitute evidence of danger to patients, including acts of moral turpitude.
D. The board may issue a general license to practice dentistry by credentials to an applicant who meets the requirements, including payment of appropriate fees and the passing of an examination covering the laws and rules of the practice of dentistry in New Mexico, of the Dental Health Care Act and rules promulgated pursuant to that act, and who:
(1) has maintained a uniform service practice in the United States military or public health service for three years immediately preceding the application; or
(2) is duly licensed by examination as a dentist pursuant to the laws of another state or territory of the United States.
E. The board may issue a specialty license by examination to an applicant who has passed a clinical and written examination given by the board or its examining agents that covers the applicant's specialty. The applicant shall have a postgraduate degree or certificate from an accredited dental college, school of dentistry of a university or other residency program that is accredited by the commission on dental accreditation in one of the specialty areas of dentistry recognized by the American dental association. The applicant shall also meet all other requirements as established by rules of the board, which shall include an examination covering the laws and rules of the practice of dentistry in New Mexico. A specialty license limits the licensee to practice only in that specialty area.
F. The board may issue a specialty license, by credentials, without a practical or clinical examination to an applicant who is duly licensed by a clinical examination as a dentist under the laws of another state or territory of the United States and who has a postgraduate degree or certificate from an accredited dental college, school of dentistry of a university or other residency program that is accredited by the commission on dental accreditation in one of the specialty areas of dentistry recognized by the American dental association; provided that license is active and that all dental licenses that individual possesses have been in good standing for five years prior to application. The credentials must show that no dental board actions have been taken during the five years prior to application; that no proceedings are pending in any states in which the applicant has had a license in the five years prior to application; and that a review of public records, the national practitioner data bank or other nationally recognized data resources that record actions against a dentist in the United States does not reveal any activities or unacquitted civil or criminal charges that could reasonably be construed to constitute evidence of danger to patients, including acts of moral turpitude. The applicant shall also meet all other qualifications as deemed necessary by rules of the board, which shall include an examination covering the laws and rules of the practice of dentistry in New Mexico. A specialty license limits the licensee to practice only in that specialty area.
History:
Laws 1994, ch. 55, § 12; 1999, ch. 292, § 2; 2003, ch. 409, § 9; 2011, ch. 113, § 9.
ANNOTATIONS
Cross references.
— For the Parental Responsibility Act,
see
40-5A-1 NMSA 1978 et seq.
The 2011 amendment,
effective June 17, 2011, in Subsection B, listed testing agencies that offer examinations that the board may use.
The 2003 amendment,
effective June 20, 2003, in Subsection A, deleted "an accredited dental college or" preceding "a school of dentistry" near the beginning, deleted "of a university" following "school of dentistry" near the beginning and substituted "joint" for "American dental association" following "accredited by the" near the middle; in Subsection B, inserted "license to practice" following "for a general" near the beginning, deleted "licensure" preceding "by examination shall" near the beginning, and substituted "rules" for "regulations" following "covering the laws and" near the middle; rewrote Subsection C; in Subsection E, substituted "joint" for "American dental association" following "accredited by the" near the middle, and substituted "rules" for "regulations" following "covering the laws and" near the end; and rewrote Subsection F.
The 1999 amendment,
effective June 18, 1999, substituted "shall" for "must" and "may" throughout the section, inserted "or" before "school of dentistry" in Subsection A, inserted "the requirements set forth in" in the first sentence of Subsection B, rewrote Subsection B, added Subsection D, redesignated former Subsections D and E as Subsections E and F, deleted "successfully" before "passed a clinical and written" and substituted "rule" and "rules" for "regulations" Subsection E.
State's legitimate interest in licensing persons to practice dentistry
or dental hygiene is to assure that the individual is competent. 1980 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 80-20.
Fee not returnable.
— Application fee for examination could not be returned in the event that the examination was not taken by the applicant. 1939 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 39-3220.
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references.
— 61 Am. Jur. 2d Physicians, Surgeons and Other Healers §§ 51 to 62.
Constitutionality and construction of statutes or regulations prohibiting one who has no license to practice dentistry or medicine from owning, maintaining or operating an office therefor, 20 A.L.R.2d 808.
Practicing dentistry without a license as a continuing or separate offense, 99 A.L.R.2d 654.
70 C.J.S. Physicians, Surgeons, and Other Health-Care Providers §§ 12, 16, 19, 20.