Section 36-6A-44 - Application for license to practice dentistry or dental hygiene--Requirements--Examination. - South Dakota Statutes

36-6A-44. Application for license to practice dentistry or dental hygiene--Requirements--Examination. Any person not already a licensed dentist or dental hygienist of this state desiring to practice dentistry or dental hygiene may apply to the secretary-treasurer of the Board of Dentistry for licensure. Unless otherwise provided:
(1) Each application for a license to practice dentistry or dental hygiene shall be in writing and signed by the applicant;
(2) An application for a license without examination shall be made in accordance with the provisions of § 36-6A-47 or 36-6A-48;
(3) The applicant must be a graduate from a dental or dental hygiene school which is accredited by the American dental association commission on dental accreditation and shall be examined for a license to practice dentistry or dental hygiene;
(4) Foreign-trained and other graduates from nonaccredited dental and dental hygiene programs may apply for a dental or dental hygiene license. The board, by rule promulgated pursuant to chapter 1-26, shall establish requirements to reasonably assure that an applicant's training and education are sufficient for licensure;
(5) The board may require a laboratory examination as a prerequisite to the clinical examination of an applicant if it has reason to believe the applicant cannot practice safely on a clinical patient due to a difference in the applicant's curriculum or any other bona fide reason;
(6) All applicants who are admitted to the examination process shall be evaluated by the same standards in examinations. Skill and performance standards required in the written, laboratory and clinical examinations shall be the same for all applicants;
(7) All applicants shall provide satisfactory evidence showing that they are of good moral character;
(8) Every applicant for a license to practice dentistry or dental hygiene, whether by examination or reciprocity, shall produce evidence satisfactory to the board that he is a citizen of the United States or lawfully admitted alien, or he shall file an affidavit with the board indicating his intent to become a citizen of the United States. However, if citizenship has not been attained within eight years from the filing of such affidavit, he forfeits the right to be licensed under this chapter.

Source: SDC 1939, § 27.0606; SL 1965, ch 119; SL 1967, ch 97; SL 1971, ch 213, § 20; SL 1981, ch 275, § 15; SL 1992, ch 269, § 33.