Working as dental practitioner in Germany
EU-members
In principal, any dental practitioner of a member state of the European Union is
entitled to practice dentistry in Germany. If the dental activity in Germany does not exceed three years, an application for a temporary dental exercise can be made. This application must be accompanied by an evidence of the completion of the dental education.
If a permanent dental activity in Germany is desired, an application for the German licence must be made. This licence is issued if the dental education of the applicant is equivalent to the German dental education. Recognised as equivalent to the German dental diploma are the foreign diplomas listed in the appendix. The equivalency of other diplomas has to be ascertained and determined individually.
The competent authority of the federal German state where the concerned
practitioner wants to practice has to be contacted. The relevant directory is
appended.
Application documents
The documents hereafter have to be submitted together with the application for the German licence:
- A CV
- The birth certificate or an extract of the family book
- The marriage certificate - if the applicant is married
- A nationality certificate
- An official certificate stating that the holder has no criminal record – not older than one month
- A declaration that the applicant is not prosecuted or involved in other preliminary legal proceedings
- A medical certificate – not older than one month
- The dental examination certificate. If this certificate is issued in another language than German, also a certified translation.
It is recommended to contact the dental chamber of the federal German state where the applicant wants to practice in order to get further and detailed information. The relevant list is also appended. Good knowledge of the German language is absolutely necessary.
Non EU-members
Information on the recognition of dental diplomas in Germany Prerequisite for an independent dental activity in Germany is the possession of the
German nationality and the German dental licence. Furthermore and due to
regulations of the European legislation, citizens of other EU-member states being in possession of a dental licence of another EU-country are also entitled to exercise dentistry independently in Germany.
If these prerequisites aren’t fulfilled, only an application for a temporary dental
exercise according to § 13 of the German Dental Act can be presented. Such an
application has to be submitted to the competent regional governmental authority.
However, there is no legal entitlement to obtain such an authorisation. If issued, it is for a limited period only. Good knowledge of the German language is absolutely necessary.
After a year of temporary dental exercise, the practitioner has to pass a so-called equivalency examination which is meant to compare the practitioner’s educational level with the one required in Germany. The failure rate of these examinations is high.
The authorisation according to § 13 of the German Dental Act entitles only to a work as a dentist’s assistant in a private dental practice, as locum assistant or as dentist’s assistant in a hospital. There are not many of such vacancies and it is difficult to get such a position.
