Welcome to the North Dakota Board of Dental Examiners web site. The Board is charged with protecting the dental health of the public through regulation and enforcement of laws.
The powers and duties of the North Dakota State Board of Dental Examiners are provided in North Dakota Century Code Section 43-28 and Section 43-20. Under authority provided by statute the North Dakota State Board of Dental Examiners licenses qualified and competent dentists, dental hygienists, and issues registrations to qualified dental assistants. The Board’s mandate to protect the public’s dental health and safety also includes the following duties:
The North Dakota State Board of Dental Examiners protects the dental health of the citizens of North Dakota by regulating the practice of dentistry, dental hygiene, and dental assisting through the enforcement of laws, rules and policies. The board requires competency and ethical behavior in all areas of the practice of dentistry.
The Territorial Legislature in 1885 declared it unlawful to practice dentistry within the territory until a certificate was obtained from the Board of Examiners (T. L. 1885, Ch. 43). On April 10, 1885, the North Dakota Board of Dental Examiners registered their first licensee. The Board of Examiners consisted of five practicing dentists two of whom were appointed by the Governor from a list provided by the South Dakota Dental Society and the Northwestern Dental Association. When North Dakota became a state in 1889 the North Dakota Legislature expanded the duties of the newly formed State Board of Dental Examiners to ensure better education and regulation for the practice of dental surgery and the general practice of dentistry.
In 1911 dentistry was defined as performing dental operations of any kind on the teeth, treating diseased lesions of the human jaw, replacing lost teeth with artificial ones, or attempting to correct the “malposition” of teeth (S. L. 1911, Ch. 280). As the functions of the profession changed and procedures became specialized laws were added or amended in order to keep current with the changes.
