Dental-School Accreditation

"Accredited" is one of the most used and least understood words on dental school websites. Accreditation is a specific, bounded thing: an evaluation of an educational program or institution against standards by a named body. It is not a general badge of quality, it is not registration, and it is not worldwide. This guide explains what it means, who does it, and how to read it carefully.

What accreditation is

CODA, the Commission on Dental Accreditation in the United States, answers the question directly in its own words: accreditation is an evaluation process in which an organization uses experts in a discipline to define standards of acceptable performance for programs and measures compliance with them. By contrast, certification is a process by which an organization grants recognition of competence to an individual. So accreditation concerns programs; certification and licensure concern people.

CODA describes its process as peer review: a sponsoring institution applies, completes a self-study, hosts an on-site review, and the Commission decides at meetings held twice a year; accredited programs receive a follow-up review every seven years, except oral and maxillofacial surgery programs, which are reviewed every five years. These are details of one accreditor; others have their own cycles and terms.

Who accredits, in different systems

Systems are organized differently:

• United States. CODA says it is nationally recognized by the US Department of Education as the sole agency to accredit dental and dental-related education programs at the post-secondary level, and that it accredits predoctoral, advanced and allied programs. It also states that it accredits predoctoral dental education programs internationally, through consultation and accreditation services for established international programs, which must comply with the same standards as US programs.
• Canada. The National Dental Examining Board of Canada says that in Canada accreditation is determined by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of Canada, and it defines a "non-accredited" dental program as one authorized by its country's government to award dental degrees but not accredited or recognized by that Canadian commission.
• Australia. The Dental Board of Australia states that the Australian Dental Council is the accreditation authority responsible for accrediting education providers and programs of study, and that accreditation standards are approved by the Board.
• United Kingdom. The General Dental Council states that it assesses, approves, monitors and inspects education providers to ensure that their programmes meet its standards, and publishes approved providers.
• New Zealand. The Dental Council states that a prescribed qualification is one that has been through a formal accreditation process, either by it or by another jurisdiction whose accreditation processes it recognizes.

Other countries use ministries of education, national quality agencies or professional councils. The right question is always: which body is authorized to decide for this purpose, and in which country?

Authorization is not accreditation

A government may authorize a university to award dental degrees. That is licensing of the institution, and it is the minimum. Accreditation is an additional, program-level, quality judgement against professional standards. As the Canadian example shows, a program can be government-authorized yet non-accredited from another country's perspective. Check both.

Accreditation is not recognition by another country

An accreditation decision is made for a purpose and a jurisdiction. Some agencies have mutual recognition agreements; the Canadian board, for example, refers to programs recognized by the Canadian commission pursuant to a mutual recognition agreement. Such agreements are specific and can change. A program accredited by one body is not automatically accepted by every other regulator. Do not read accreditation in one country as eligibility elsewhere. See recognition and Registration in Your Intended Practice Country.

Reading statuses

When you find a program in an accreditor's list, record:

Applications and candidacy are not accreditation. If a school says it is "seeking accreditation", record it as pending, which gives you no regulatory standing. If a program is on probation or has had accreditation withdrawn, that is a fact that belongs in your assessment, and this directory will show it accurately where it is documented.

Accreditation of different program types

Accreditation covers different kinds of programs separately. CODA's own description includes predoctoral dental education, advanced dental education in specialties such as orthodontics, periodontics and endodontics, and allied programs in dental hygiene, dental therapy, dental assisting and dental laboratory technology. A school that is accredited for dental hygiene may not be accredited for the dentist degree, and vice versa. Always match the accreditation to the program you want. See Postgraduate Training vs Initial Qualifications.

Directory listings are not accreditation

The World Directory of Dental Schools (WDDS) and similar lists are useful for discovery. A listing there, or on this site, is not accreditation or endorsement. See data sources and methodology.

Questions to ask a school

• Which body accredits or authorizes this program, and what is the current status?
• Is the accreditation for the exact program and campus I am considering?
• When is the next review, and has the status changed in the last cycle?
• Which regulators have accepted your graduates, and where can I verify it?

Practical use of accreditation lists

Use the accreditor's own list or search tool, not a copy. Search by the legal name of the institution and by the program name, then record the status shown and the date. If the school's name has changed, or the program is delivered at a branch campus, search by both names and ask the accreditor if the result is unclear.

Treat an absence from a list as an open question rather than as a negative finding, since lists may be organized by institution or by program, and some schools are covered by a different body. Where the school claims accreditation by a body that does not publish a list or that you cannot find, ask for the decision letter and ask the body itself. Accreditation that cannot be verified from the accreditor should not be relied on.

Common questions

Does accreditation mean the school is good? It means a program has been evaluated against an accreditor's standards. It is a minimum quality signal for a stated purpose, not a ranking.

Can a program lose accreditation? Accreditors review programs periodically and may change statuses. Check the date of the information you rely on.

If a country has no national accreditor, what then? Look to the regulator, the ministry of education and any recognized external body, and ask what each says about the specific program.