Access to the Dental Profession in Ontario

This document was developed in collaboration with the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, Labour Market Integration Unit in January 2008. Requirements may have changed by the time you apply. Please contact the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario before completing your application.

Copyright in this Career Map is held jointly by the Queen's Printer for Ontario and the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario, © 2008. This Career Map may be used or reproduced by any third party for non-commercial, not-for-profit purposes, provided that no fee, payment or royalty of any kind shall be charged by the third party for any further use or reproduction of the Career Map by any person. Any proposed commercial or for-profit use or reproduction of this Career Map requires a written license from the Queen's Printer for Ontario and the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario.

The first Dental Act in the world was passed into law by the Ontario Government on March 4, 1868. This created the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario (referred to in this document as “College”). The dentistry profession is regulated in the province of Ontario by the College. This organization is responsible for

• setting entry-to-practice requirements
• setting standards of practice for the dental profession
• setting ethical standards
• investigating complaints
• taking appropriate disciplinary action as necessary
• protecting the public’s right to quality dental services, and
• providing leadership to the profession.

The rules concerning the licensing of dentists in Ontario are set out in provincial legislation – the Regulated Health Professions Act and the Dentistry Act, 1991.

By law, no one is authorized to practise as a dentist in Ontario without a licence issued by the College. This is known as a Certificate of Registration. There are different classes of certificate depending on your situation, for example whether you are a student, a visiting intern or a professor. Most applicants seek a General Certificate which grants the full, unrestricted right to deliver dental services to the public of Ontario.

This Career Map focuses on obtaining a General Certificate of Registration. For other classes of certificate please visit the College’s website at www.rcdso.org.

There are over 8,000 dentists in Ontario. Dentists perform some of all of the following duties:

• examine patients’ teeth, gums and surrounding tissue to diagnose disease, injury and decay and plan appropriate treatment
• restore and extract diseased and decayed teeth
• perform oral surgery, periodontal surgery and other treatments
• clean teeth and instruct patients on oral hygiene
• design bridgework, fit dentures and provide appliances to correct abnormal positioning of the teeth and jaws, or write fabrication instructions or prescriptions for use by denturists and dental technicians
• supervise dental hygienists, dental assistants and other staff.

Dentists’ offices tend to be open four to six days a week. Many dentists practise on their own but they make work in partnerships and associateships. Dentists also work in hospitals, as administrators, researchers and teachers, and for the military.

Registration Requirements

Canada and the United States operate according to a mutually recognized system of accreditation of dental training. If your dental training was outside of Canada or the United States you are considered to be “internationally trained” and you will be required to successfully complete a full-time, two-year qualifying program or the “NDEB Equivalency Process”. These two paths are the only means by which you can become eligible to take the Canadian national examination administered by the National Dental Examining Board of Canada (NDEB).

The qualifying programs are known by several names, including

• degree completion or advanced standing programs,
• Internationally Trained Dentists Program, or
• International Dentist Advanced Placement program.

Many universities in Canada and the United States offer these programs. You will have to apply for university admission and pass the appropriate admissions tests. These tests assess scholastic and dental knowledge as well as language proficiency in English or French.

In Ontario, application for admission may be made to the:

University of Toronto
Faculty of Dentistry
124 Edward St.
Toronto ON M5G 1G6 Canada
Phone: 416-979-4900
Fax: 416-979-4566
www.utoronto.ca/dentistry

University of Western Ontario
Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry
Dental Sciences Building
London ON N6A 5C1 Canada
Phone: 519-661-3330
Fax: 519-661-3875
http://www.fmd.uwo.ca/dentistry

A list of other Canadian schools with qualifying programs can be found on the NDEB website at www.ndeb.ca. A list of American schools with qualifying or advanced standing programs can be found on the American Dental Association website at www.ada.org.

Details about the NDEB Equivalency Process should be obtained through the NDEB’s website, www.ndeb.ca, or by calling them at
613-236-5912, email – director@ndeb.ca. The NDEB is located at 100 Bronson Avenue, Suite 203, Ottawa ON K1R 6G8 Canada.

Here is a brief synopsis of this process as seen on the NDEB website:

The Equivalency Process provides an alternate route to certification as a dentist in Canada for graduates of non-accredited dental programs and is also integrated with the admission process for the Qualifying and Degree Completion Programs. The Equivalency Process is comprised of three Assessments. Successful completion of the Assessments allows individuals to participate in the NDEB Written and OSCE Examinations. Canadian Faculties of Dentistry will also use results of select Assessments in the admission process for Qualifying and Degree Completion Programs.

The diagram below illustrates the two but integrated pathways to certification as a dentist in Canada.

Once the certificate of the National Dental Examining Board has been granted, to obtain a General Certificate of Registration (the most common form of certificate used to engage in general practice) from the College all applicants must

• have a degree in dentistry showing that you have successfully completed a course in dental studies of at least four years at a university-based dental school.
• passed the Canadian National Examination and obtained a certificate from the NDEB.
• be reasonably fluent in either English or French.
• have successfully completed the College's examination in Jurisprudence and Ethics.
• be a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada or have received the appropriate authorization from Citizenship and Immigration Canada permitting you to engage in the practice of dentistry in Ontario.
• be mentally competent and physically able to safely practice dentistry.
• have sufficient knowledge, skill and judgment to competently engage in the practice of dentistry.

In cases where you have engaged in the practice of dentistry anywhere in the world, you must provide acceptable evidence that you have not been found guilty in relation to a criminal offence, that you were not the subject of an investigation or proceeding for professional misconduct, incompetence, incapacity or a similar investigation or proceeding and that you were not the subject of a finding of professional misconduct, incompetence, incapacity or a similar finding. 

Note that requirements are subject to change. Please contact the College directly for the most up-to-date information or if you have any questions. The entire Registration Regulation can be found on the College’s website.

Application Process

Standard processing time for a complete application is three weeks. The Registration Department processes all applications. In some cases, it is necessary for the Registrar of the College to refer an application to the Registration Committee. The Committee will then review the application, request additional information from the applicant and make recommendations to the Registrar.

The Committee communicates the decision to you, the applicant, in writing. If you would like to know more about how to appeal a decision review the information provided by the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board at www.hparb.on.ca

Before You Immigrate to Canada

Once you, the applicant, have met all the requirements you may apply for registration from any location. Refer to the section on providing certified documents for a list of what you will need. All applications are treated in the same manner and must meet the requirements as specified in this document.

If you are not very fluent in English or French it is a good idea to improve your English or French before arriving in Canada.

When You Arrive in Ontario

Given the nature of the requirements (e.g. assessment or two-year program) you will probably have arrived in Ontario or another province of Canada. To begin your application to the College:

Step 1 – Completing the application form
You must submit a completed, signed and notarized College Application Form which will then be valid for three months. If you have not completed the registration process within that time then you will be required to complete a new application form. The form is available on the College website.

Step 2 — Providing certified documents
The College requires a combination of original and certified documentation depending on the nature of the document. By legal definition, a “certified copy” is a copy of a document issued by a court, a government or a lawyer or notary public.

These are the steps to obtaining a certified document:

i) You take the original document to the legal authority.

ii) The legal authority will

• take a photocopy.
• either provide a covering affidavit or write on the document directly that the copy is a true, exact and unaltered copy of the original document.
• sign, stamp and date the photocopy.

The College will not accept photocopies that are not certified. The College will not accept copies sworn by you, the applicant, to be true copies. It is the responsibility of the legal authority to perform the verification.

This chart describes all the documents you need to submit to the College.

Documents	Notes
a certified copy of your original dental degree
an original letter from the graduating university confirming your graduation and date
a certified copy of your final transcripts that includes confirmation of the dental degree being issued	This can be submitted instead of a letter from the university (see above).
written confirmation from the Canadian or American university that you have successfully completed the two-year, qualifying or international dentist program
a certified copy of the certificate issued by the National Dental Examining Board of Canada
a certified copy of the appropriate authorization from Citizenship and Immigration Canada permitting you to practise dentistry in Ontario	This could be a Canadian citizenship card, permanent resident card or Ontario work permit.
a completed Certificate of Standing form	You can find this form on the College website. It should be completed by the licensing or regulatory body in the jurisdiction in which you have practised as a dentist. In some countries, this is not a separate organization but a government body such as a Ministry of Health. This form will provide evidence that you have not been found guilty in relation to a criminal offence, that you were not the subject of an investigation or proceeding for professional misconduct, incompetence, incapacity or a similar investigation or proceeding and that you were not the subject of a finding of professional misconduct, incompetence, incapacity or a similar finding. Note that this is a major requirement that must be addressed in all cases. Please contact the Registration staff at the College if you have any questions. This documentation is valid for three months from the date it is issued if you continued to practise in that jurisdiction afterwards. Alternatively, it must have been current and up to date when you left the jurisdiction in question.
certified copy of a legal name change certificate, marriage certificate, or divorce certificate	This is required only if you are applying for a licence under a name that is different from the one recorded on your dental degree.
a written summary of what you have done during any gaps in time between when you obtained your dental degree and when you applied to the College

Where indicated, you must submit certified copies of the original documents plus certified translations of those documents if they are not in English or French. It is your responsibility to arrange for the official translation. You cannot translate your own documents. Original translations must verify that the translation is accurate and authentic and will be accepted only from the following:

• the consulate, high commission or embassy to Canada of the country that issued the documents;
• a Canadian embassy, consulate, or high commission in the country from which you emigrated;
• a translator accredited by a professional association of translators in Canada. To obtain the name of an accredited translator, contact the Association of Translators and Interpreters of Ontario (ATIO) at 1-800-234-5030 or 613-241-2846, or a translator who has received accreditation through a federal, provincial or municipal government in Canada.

All acceptable translations must be accompanied by an original statement indicating

• the translator’s number and/or seal, name, address and telephone number
• that the translator belongs to one of the categories listed above
• printed name and signature of the translator

Examinations

As mentioned above, you must complete the National Dental Examining Board examination before you apply to the College. The NDEB list recommended readings and has released on its website every examination question it has ever used.  

You must also successfully complete the College’s web based course in Jurisprudence and Ethics. This course is available on the College website – www.rcdso.org - without charge. An application form, however, must be submitted to the College to be able to access the course. This form is also available on our website.  

Language Proficiency Assessment

You are expected to have reasonable fluency in either English or French. Many dental programs throughout the world are taught in English. Since you must complete a two-year qualifying program, the College rarely requests any evidence of language fluency.

When it is necessary, the College currently accepts TOEFL – total score of 600 PBT + 5 on TWE or total score of 250 CBT + 5 on essay, OR IELTS – total band of 6.5.

Labour Market Information

It must be stressed that as a Regulator we process applications based on whether the applicant has met the legislated requirements for registration and not on whether Ontario needs dentists or not. Unlike in some countries, dentistry is not funded by the Government but is an independent, privately run business. The average income for a dentist according to a year 2000 poll was approximately $132,000 (Canadian).

There are currently over 8,000 dentists in Ontario. Employment for this occupation is expected to grow more rapidly than the average for all occupations in the immediate future. More job openings will be created each year from the need to replace dentists who retire. The demand for dental services is influenced by population growth, improvements in oral hygiene that allow elderly people to keep their teeth longer and public awareness of the importance of dental health. In addition, as the baby boom ages a large number of the population will need maintenance on complicated dental work. The nature of dentistry is also changing with a greater emphasis on cosmetic procedures.

A 2004 survey estimated that 58% of the profession in Ontario practised in the City of Toronto. Toronto, therefore, is a highly competitive market and applicants should consider practising in areas outside of this concentrated area. Membership in the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario is not a guarantee of employment. The College does not provide employment services and there is no central job placement service for dentists in Ontario.

For more information on labour market conditions see

• www.labourmarketinformation.ca – You can search by city in Ontario to obtain more detailed information about what is happening in different areas of the province.
• www.ontariojobfutures.ca
• www.oda.on.ca – the Ontario Dental Association
• www.cda-adc.ca/en – the Canadian Dental Association