Application and approval of qualifications

To obtain an approval of your foreign primary dental qualifications, you need to send an application to the Danish Patient Safety Authority and enclose documentation of your formal qualifications.

6-year-rule
Note that applications from dentists who have completed primary dental qualifications more than 6 years prior to the receipt of a fully documented application at the Danish Patient Safety Authority will be rejected, unless the application is accompanied by a document stating professional experience as a dentist for at least 12 months during the 6 years preceding the date when we receive an application (6-year-rule).

Dental educational programmes with a duration of less than 5 years
Before you submit your application to us, please bear in mind that in the majority of cases, primary dental educational programmes with a duration of less than 5 years, will typically be assessed as not being suitable for testing. This is because dental education with a duration of less than 5 years does usual not meet the requirements that it must more or less correspond to Danish dental education. That being said, we always make sure that each application is considered individually and in accordance with our national guidelines thus cf. § 2, para. 1, no. 1, in Executive Order no. 97 of 9 February 2011 on the authorization of dentists who are citizens of and/or trained in countries outside the EU / EEA, with subsequent amendments.

Danish dental education is 5 years followed by 12 months’ clinical training.

Application

You need to send the application form electronically and then print the form. We recommend that you fill in and send the application form when you have access to a printer.

• Fill in the application form.
• Send the form electronically
• Print the form and sign it
• Send the application form and the required documentation by post to the Danish Patient Safety Authority

You can also hand in your application and documentation at the reception desk at the Danish Patient Safety Authority. See contact information and opening hours on Contact. Remember to enclose the application form including your name and address with your documentation.

Required documentation

Each document must be numbered according to the below list. For example, add number 1 to the documentation of name, date of birth and nationality.

1. Documentation of name, date of birth and nationality (e.g. a certified copy of the relevant page in your passport).
2. Name change certificate, if any.
3. Translation of name change certificate, if the certificate has not been issued in English.
4. Curriculum vitae, listing your qualifications and work experience in chronological order.
5. Diploma for completed primary education as a dentist.
6. Translation of diploma into Danish or English, if the diploma has not been issued in English.
7. Filled in form or certificate from your educational institution. The educational institution must send the certificate/form directly to the Danish Patient Safety Authority. It must be clearly stated on the envelope/plastic courier pack that it has been sent by the educational institution. If the certificate is not in English, we will – following a specific assessment – send it to you so that you can ask a certified translator to translate the document. The certificate will not be accepted if the applicant himself sends it to the Danish Patient Safety Authority.
8. Transcript of the study programme from the educational institution, including information about:
   • Duration of the basic programme
   • Theoretical education: subjects and lecture hours of each subjects
   • Clinical education: subjects and clinical hours of each subjects
   • Numbers of weeks per semester
   Please read more about the subjects in our supplement information document that clearly must appear on your transcript. If the subjects do not appear on your transcript, you, most likely, will be asked to submit additional documentation of these when we start processing your dental education.
9. Translation of transcript of study programme into Danish or English, if the transcript has not been issued in English.
10. Filled in form or certificate from the competent health authorities in the most recent country of work or country of residence (Certificate of Current Professional Status/certificate of good standing). The certificate must confirm that you are legally entitled to practice within your profession and that you have not been found guilty of any misconduct or lack of fitness to practice, and no cautions or conditions have been applied to your registration. If the certificate is not in English, we will – following a specific assessment – send it to you so that you can ask a translator to translate the document. The relevant health authority must send the certificate/form directly to the Danish Patient Safety Authority. It must be clearly stated on the envelope/plastic courier pack that it has been sent by the relevant health authority. The certificate/form must have been issued no more than 3 months before the Danish Patient Safety Authority receives all the documentation. The certificate will not be accepted if the applicant himself sends it to the Danish Patient Safety Authority.
11. Documentation of at least 12 months’ dental work experience. (Only if you completed your training more than 6 years before this application – (the 6-year-rule)). The documentation must confirm full-time employment and detailed information of your daily professional tasks.
    Documented part-time employment for a period corresponding to 12 months of full-time employment can also fulfill the requirement for 12 months of work experience, provided that the work experience is acquired within the last 6 years prior to the date where we receive an application.
12. Supplementary documentation/additional information, if any, of importance to the assessment of your formal qualifications.
13. Power of attorney, if another person, including job centres, municipalities etc., handles your application.

Certificate of non-registration 

If you are not yet registered within your profession and thus unable to submit a certificate of good standing you must instead submit a certificate of non-registration which must be sent directly from the competent authority to us.

We are unable to assist you in contacting foreign authorities, universities etc. in order to obtain documentation. Concerning the certificate from your educational institution and certificate of good standing you are referred to our website where we officially request this documentation. (See links in points 7 and 10).

You need to send the above documentation by post in 2 copies:

• Copy 1: Original documentation or certified true copies (black/white).
• Copy 2: Ordinary copies of copy 1 (the copies must be black/white in A4 format without paper clips, folders etc.).

Certified true copies

If you do not want to send the original documents, but prefer copies, the copies must be certified to be true copies by an embassy/consulate, notary public, the police or the authority that issued the document. The certified copy must bear a stamp and signature to confirm in English or Danish that the copy is a true copy of the original document. The authority/signatory must be easily identifiable. Private individuals, employees of employment agencies etc. cannot make certified copies.

Original documents

We may ask you to present your original documents. The translations and the documents mentioned under points 7 and 10 must always be submitted in the original form. Original documentation will be returned to you by registered post to the address you have stated in the application form. Please inform us if you change your address.

Translation into Danish or English

If your documents are not in English, you may enclose translations into Danish or English of the enclosed documentation (we also accept translations into Norwegian or Swedish). You can also wait until we have processed your application and assessed which documents need to be translated. You should, however, expect an extended assessment time if you do not enclose translated documents.

Translations must be made by one of the following:

• The university or authority that issued the document.
• A certified translator.

The translator’s name and stamp must appear clearly from the translation. If the stamp is not in Danish or English, it must be translated by the translator. The translator must use a band, seal or the like to attach the translated document to the document in the original language.

Assessment

When we have received your application and documentation by post, we will as soon as possible send you an email to confirm receipt of your application (please check your junk mail folder, since our emails are sometimes delivered in that folder).

You will not receive confirmation upon receipt of any additional documentation.

We make an individual assessment of your primary dental qualifications to assess whether you are eligible for testing.

When we have finalised the assessment of your application, we will notify you by email or by digital post to e.g. e-Boks (online Danish digital mailbox, if you hold Danish CPR-number), if we need additional documentation or we will send you a letter with your documentation. If we have approved your formal qualifications, the letter will inform you about the requirements for obtaining Danish authorisation and permission to work independently as a dentist. Please note that this letter is not your authorisation.

Our letter including your documentation will be sent to the address you have stated in the application form by either regular or registered post. Please let us know if you change your address. If you live abroad, you must make sure that you have written your full address in the application form and that you can receive letters by post as we do not send letters with courier, GLS or the like.

Application processing time

We process applications in the order in which they are received. 

Currently the Danish Patient Safety Authority is processing applications received in January 2021.

As of 1 March 2022, we have hired in more examiners to, among other things, process applications from holders of qualifications from third countries. Consequently, we expect soon to be able to bring down the time it takes for an application to be processed. 

We expect to initiate applications before the end of 2022 for applications received in the first half of 2020. 

We expect to initiate applications before the end of the second quarter of 2023 for applications received in the second half of 2020.

We expect to initiate applications before the end of the second quarter of 2023 for applications received in 2021.

We expect to initiate applications before the end of the second quarter of 2024 for applications received in 2022.

From 1 March 2022 the Danish Patient Safety Authority will prioritize applicants, who have:

• a Danish CPR number and
• who live in Denmark, cf. the Danish CPR Register

It applies to all applications not yet processed, thus including applications received before 1 March 2022.

If you are already registered in our system with a CPR number and live in Denmark, you do not have to contact us. We will automatically prioritize your application. If we receive many applications for registration from applicants who have a CPR number and live in Denmark, these applications will be processed in the order they are received.

If you have a CPR number, but have not yet informed the Danish Patient Safety Authority about it, please contact us by phone +45 72 28 66 00 or send by secure e-mail.

The Danish Patient Safety Authority cannot answer questions regarding Danish CPR number. For more information about Danish CPR number, please go to Life in Denmark.dk.