How to check a dentist’s licence in your province
Updated October 24, 2026 · 4 min read · General information, not dental advice
Every dentist in Canada is licensed by a provincial or territorial regulator. Most regulators publish a public register where you can check that a dentist is licensed, and whether they are registered as a general dentist or as a specialist.
In Ontario, dentists must say in their advertising whether they are a general dentist or a specialist, and which specialty. If a clinic says “specialist”, the register is where to confirm it.
Regulators and registers, province by province
Other oral health professionals
Denturists, dental hygienists and dental assistants are licensed too. In British Columbia one college, the BC College of Oral Health Professionals, licenses dentists, dental hygienists, dental technicians, dental therapists, denturists and licensed dental assistants, and its public register covers them.
Questions people ask
+How do I know if my dentist is licensed?
Search your province’s public register (linked in the table above). It shows whether the dentist is licensed, and whether they are registered as a general dentist or a specialist.
+What does it mean if a dentist is a specialist?
Specialists (orthodontists, oral surgeons, periodontists, endodontists, pediatric dentists and others) have extra training and register as specialists with their regulator. General dentists can offer many of the same treatments, but cannot call themselves specialists.
Where these prices come from
- Canadian Dental Association: Regulatory authorities
- RCDSO: Find a dentist
- RCDSO: Advertising guidelines
- ODQ: Trouver un dentiste
- BCCOHP: Public register
- College of Dental Surgeons of Alberta: Dentist directory
Checked October 24, 2026.
Keep reading
Prices are Canadian list and published prices before tax on the date above, linked to their source; they change with sales and the exchange rate. Product names belong to their owners; we are not affiliated with any manufacturer.