Announcements
2019 Guy Shampaine Award
The CDCA is thrilled to open nominations for the 2019 Guy Shampaine Award!
The Guy Shampaine Award annually recognizes a CDCA member whose outstanding efforts on behalf of the CDCA embody our values of service, dedication, and integrity; This award was created in honor of Dr. Guy Shampaine, an exemplary CDCA member whose many contributions include significant service as a CDCA dental examination chief, and outstanding leadership service to the CDCA Board of Directors, culminating with four years as its Chairman from 2011-2015. Click here for more information and nomination form.
Dentists Displaced by Hurricanes Maria and Irma Participate in Special Administration of ADEX Exam
Fall 2017 saw the most intense hurricane season recorded in Atlantic history. Both hurricane Maria and hurricane Irma caused billions of dollars in damage and left many island occupants without electricity or access to food and water.
“The hurricane truly made me appreciate how quickly things can change,” said one dentist forced to leave his practice in Puerto Rico after 24 years.
The destruction caused by the hurricanes had dramatic effects on so many, including practicing dentists in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands who were in turn displaced to Florida to try to re-start their lives. To assist these individuals, the Commission on Dental Competency Assessments (CDCA), Florida Department of Health, Florida Board of Dentistry, Florida Dental Association and Miami Dade College decided to join forces late last year to expedite a special administration of the ADEX dental licensure exam on February 11-12, 2018 at Miami Dade College. Read Full Article
The NERB is now The Commission on Dental Competency Assessments
On January 9th, 2015 the NERB became The Commission on Dental Competency Assessments. While our name, logo, web address and email addresses have changed, please note that the same commitment to testing excellence and quality remains. Additionally, past, present and future statutory and legal references to the NERB remain viable and synonymous with the CDCA.
How We Became the CDCA
In 1968 there were 53 different licensure exams for US states and jurisdictions.
In 1969, the North East Regional Board of Dental Examiners (NERB) was founded to facilitate the licensure examination process for candidates and eliminate the need for repetition of state board clinical examinations.
The NERB quickly expanded from its original 8 member states/jurisdictions, eventually growing to include 24 member states/jurisdictions. In 2014, member states stretched from Maine to Hawaii, Oregon to Florida and Wisconsin to Mississippi.
As a nonprofit, independent corporation, comprised of a consortium of member dental boards, the NERB sought to rename itself with a new name that more aptly reflected all of its members and its ongoing mission to further establish common examination standards, as well as the diversity of the types of assessments we offer state dental boards.
On January 9th, 2015 the NERB became The Commission on Dental Competency Assessments.
Today, The Commission on Dental Competency Assessments administered clinical examinations are accepted in 46 different US states/jurisdictions and Jamaica. The CDCA develops, administers, scores, and reports the results of its examinations in Dentistry and Dental Hygiene.
The CDCA remains committed to serving boards of dentistry by designing and administering assessments that are based on sound principles of testing and measurement. The CDCA is pledged to excellence, integrity and fairness and strives to be a preeminent resource in the development, innovation and administration of competency assessments for the oral health professions.
