Thank you for your interest in DANB approval of a continuing dental education (CDE) course. However, on June 21, 2011, the DANB Board of Directors voted to discontinue the DANB CDE Approval process.

DANB’s Board of Directors voted to discontinue the DANB CDE Approval process to eliminate confusion about the meaning of “DANB CDE Approval” for members of its communities of interest, including Certificants, CDE course sponsors and providers, and state dental boards. DANB’s CDE Approval process was established to review an individual course topic, to verify whether it could be used to meet the DANB guidelines for various categories of CDE as defined in DANB’s Recertification Requirements.  DANB’s approval program is different from the Academy of General Dentistry’s Program Approval for Continuing Education (AGD PACE) and the American Dental Association’s Continuing Education Recognition Program (ADA CERP), which approve CDE course sponsors. 

Many have mistakenly believed that DANB approves CDE course sponsors or providers, or that a DANB-Approved CDE course implies that DANB has evaluated the course quality.  Others have believed that DANB requires all Certificants to complete only CDE that is DANB-approved. None of these statements is true.  In addition, the rules for advertising a course as “DANB Approved” and for using the DANB CDE Approval logo have often been misunderstood by sponsors, and DANB’s Board was concerned that efforts to clarify requirements and correct errors may have been unreasonably challenging both for sponsors and for DANB.

We know that many course providers appreciated the DANB CDE Approval process. Although DANB can no longer offer this service, we are working diligently to create an online database of continuing education opportunities. If your dental assisting program also offers continuing dental education courses directly or through an affiliated department at your school, we hope that you will take advantage of being listed in this exciting new feature when it becomes available in 2012.

DANB will continue to recognize DANB CDE Approval granted prior to that date for the duration of the three-year approval period. If you are a sponsor or provider of CDE courses that are currently DANB-Approved, you should have received a letter with information on how to proceed through the remainder of the three-year period for which DANB granted CDE approval. If you did not receive this information, please contact the Recertification Department by calling 1-800-367-3262 or send an e-mail.