West Virginia Board of Dentistry

The West Virginia Board of Dentistry is an agency of the State of West Virginia, continued under W. Va. Code § 30-4-4 (renamed from the West Virginia Board of Dental Examiners in 2013). Its mission is to protect the public health, safety, and welfare of West Virginia citizens by regulating the practice of dentistry and dental hygiene and licensing practitioners who have demonstrated minimum competency by examination.

The Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoints nine Board members:

• Six licensed dentists
• One licensed dental hygienist
• One nationally certified (or 10+ years' experience) dental assistant
• One public citizen member who is not licensed under the dental practice act and performs no dentistry-related services

The West Virginia Dental Association may recommend dentist appointees to the Governor, the West Virginia Association of Dental Hygienists may recommend the hygienist appointee, and the West Virginia Dental Assistant Association may recommend the dental assistant appointee. After an initial appointment, members serve five-year terms and may not serve more than two consecutive terms. The Board elects a president and secretary annually and must meet at least twice a year.

As of the Board's most recent published roster, members include William A. Klenk, DDS (President), Don E. Skaff, DDS (Secretary), S. Vincent Veltri, DDS, David G. Edwards, DDS, C. Richard Gerber, DDS, Gina Sharps, MPH, BSDH (hygienist seat), Kimberly A. Lowe, RDA (dental assistant seat), and Terry L. Coatney (citizen member), with one dentist seat currently vacant.

The West Virginia Board of Dentistry issues the following credential categories under the West Virginia Dental Practice Act (W. Va. Code § 30-4-1 et seq.):

• Dentist License — general license to practice dentistry
• Dental Specialty License — required to practice or advertise as a specialist; the Board recognizes 12 specialties under W. Va. Code § 30-4-8a, including dental public health, endodontics, oral and maxillofacial surgery, oral and maxillofacial radiology, orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics, pediatric dentistry, periodontics, prosthodontics, oral pathology, and the more recently added dental anesthesiology, oral medicine, and orofacial pain
• Dental Hygienist License — with optional add-on certificates/permits for local anesthesia, nitrous oxide monitoring, general supervision, public health practice, and non-surgical laser therapy
• Dental Assistant permits — nitrous oxide monitoring, coronal polishing, and orthodontic/restorative expanded-duties certificates (a dental assistant does not need any permit to take intraoral dental x-rays)
• Dental Volunteer License and Dental Hygienist Volunteer License — for retired or retiring practitioners donating care to indigent patients
• Special Volunteer Event License — short-term credential for volunteer dental events
• Dental Intern/Resident Permit and Teaching Permit (license numbers beginning with "T")
• Anesthesia permits — Class 2, Class 3A, Class 3B, and Class 4, plus a Qualified Monitor credential
• Business entities — Dental Corporation and Professional Limited Liability Company registration
• Mobile Dental Facility and Portable Dental Unit permits
• Interstate Telehealth Registration — for out-of-state dentists and hygienists providing teledentistry into West Virginia

West Virginia dental license applications are submitted either through the Board's online GLSuite portal (individual login for dentists and hygienists, or a separate business login for corporations and PLLCs) or by downloadable PDF application, organized by credential type. A background check is required as part of the application. All initial dentist applicants must pass the West Virginia Dental Law Examination; a $18.00 re-examination fee applies if a retake is needed.

Initial licensure requirements for dentists

Under W. Va. Code § 30-4-8, an applicant must be at least 18 years old, hold a diploma from a dental school accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (or equivalent), and have passed both a national board examination and a clinical examination (from the Commission on Dental Competency Assessments or an equivalent regional testing agency) covering endodontics, fixed prosthodontics, periodontics, and restorative procedures.

Continuing education requirements are set out in W. Va. C.S.R. § 5-11 (Series 11), effective May 6, 2025, under the authority of W. Va. Code § 30-4-6. Although dental and hygiene licenses renew every year, CE hours are only reported every other year — CE reporting years fall on even-numbered years (for example, 2024 and 2026), with documentation due to the Board by February 1.

Hours required biennially

• Dentists: at least 35 hours every two years
• Dental hygienists: at least 20 hours every two years
• At least 2 hours on drug diversion, oral effects of tobacco use, or oral effects of substance abuse, each reporting period
• At least 2 hours of infection control training, each reporting period
• Current healthcare-provider level BLS/CPR certification (American Heart Association, American Red Cross, or equivalent), renewed every CE period; certification hours count toward the total

Category limits

A licensee may apply CE hours across several categories, subject to caps set by rule:

• Educational and scientific courses from approved sponsors — up to 100% of the requirement
• Supervised self-instruction (graded audio/video, correspondence, or computer courses with a testing component) — up to 80%
• Non-supervised self-instruction (home study, journals, scientific exhibits) — up to 10%
• Scientific papers, publications, and presentations — up to 10%
• Teaching and research appointments — up to 10%
• Original table clinics and scientific exhibits — up to 10%
• Practice management, billing, and software-training courses — up to 10%, individually or combined

Anesthesia permit holders complete additional CE in sedation-related subjects: Class 2 certificate holders need at least 6 hours; Class 3 and Class 4 permit holders need at least 16 hours. These hours count toward the biennial 35-hour dentist total. The Board randomly audits CE records, which licensees must retain for six years, and may assess penalty fees or take disciplinary action for noncompliance.

West Virginia dental practice law (W. Va. Code § 30-4-1 et seq.) defines what each credential type may lawfully perform.

Dentists

Licensed dentists may perform the full range of dental services authorized under their training and Board rules. A dentist may not hold out as a specialist, or limit practice to a specialty, without a Board-issued specialty license. The Board recognizes 12 specialties under W. Va. Code § 30-4-8a: dental public health, endodontics, oral and maxillofacial surgery, oral and maxillofacial radiology, orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics, pediatric dentistry, periodontics, prosthodontics, oral pathology, dental anesthesiology, oral medicine, and orofacial pain — the last three added as recognized specialty designations most recently.

Dental hygienists

Under W. Va. Code § 30-4-11, dental hygienists may perform a complete prophylaxis (removal of deposits, accretions, or stains from tooth or restoration surfaces), apply medicinal agents for prophylactic purposes, take radiographs for a dentist's interpretation, provide oral hygiene instruction, and perform other delegated hygiene or dental-assistant procedures specified by Board rule. A hygienist holding a public health practice permit may place sealants without a prior dentist examination, under a collaborative agreement with a supervising dentist, provided the patient is referred for a dental exam within six months.

Dental assistants

Dental assistants may take intraoral (neck-up) dental x-rays without any Board or Radiology Board permit. Expanded duties — nitrous oxide monitoring, coronal polishing, and orthodontic/restorative procedures — require the applicable Board-issued permit.

The West Virginia Board of Dentistry investigates complaints alleging violations of the dental practice act or Board rules, including substandard care, malpractice, unprofessional conduct, and unlicensed practice. The Board may also open an investigation on its own after receiving a quarterly controlled-substance report from the Board of Pharmacy, or upon other credible information, in addition to complaints filed by the public.

How to file

• Download the Board's official complaint form.
• Complete all pages of the form.
• Mail, fax, or email the completed form to the Board's office: 1319 Robert C. Byrd Drive, PO Box 1447, Crab Orchard, WV 25827; fax (304) 253-9454.

What happens next

Each complaint is assigned to a complaint committee made up of two current Board members, who may issue subpoenas to obtain testimony and records. If the committee finds probable cause that the licensee violated the dental practice act or Board rules, the Board may enter into a consent decree or hold a formal hearing, where a violation must be proven by a preponderance of the evidence. Grounds for discipline under W. Va. Code § 30-4-19(g) include fraud in obtaining a license, felony or dentistry-related misdemeanor convictions, malpractice or neglect, violating a Board order or rule, discipline in another jurisdiction, aiding unlicensed practice, and conduct endangering public health or safety. The complainant receives periodic updates on the progress of their complaint.

The West Virginia Board of Dentistry maintains a public license verification database covering everyone currently or previously licensed in the state.

How to look up a West Virginia dental license

• Visit the West Virginia Board of Dentistry Verification Search.
• Search by first name, last name (partial names supported with a wildcard *), business name, or license number.
• Filter by license type: Dentist License, Dental Hygienist License, Dental Volunteer License, or Dental Hygienist Volunteer License. License numbers beginning with "T" are Teaching Permits; those beginning with "V" are Volunteer Licenses.

Formal disciplinary orders and consent decrees are separately published, organized by calendar year, on the Board's Actions page, with records dating back to 2006 and the most recent action posted in January 2026.

Request a written verification letter

To obtain a written license verification or letter of good standing to send to another state, either use the "Order Verification" option on the verification search page to pay and order online, or mail a written request (or the Board's Verification Letter Request Form) with a $23.00 check made payable to the West Virginia Board of Dentistry, along with the licensee's name, phone number, the destination state, and the exact mailing address for the letter, to:

West Virginia Board of Dentistry
PO Box 1447, Crab Orchard, WV 25827