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Applying for a license to practice as a dentist with a professional qualification from the EU/EEA/Switzerland


Would you like to work as a dentist in Germany? Then you need a state license, the Approbation. You can also obtain a license to practice with a foreign professional qualification. To do so, you must have your professional qualification recognized.

The profession of dentist is regulated in Germany. This means that in order to work as a dentist in Germany without restriction, you need a license to practice. Approbation is the state license to practice the profession. This means that you are not allowed to work independently as a dentist without a license to practice. You can also obtain a license to practice dentistry in Germany with a professional qualification from a country in the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland.

In order to obtain a license to practice, you must have your foreign professional qualification recognized. In the recognition procedure, the competent authority compares your professional qualification with the German professional qualification and checks the equivalence. The equivalence of the professional qualification is an important prerequisite for obtaining a license to practice.

A professional qualification from the EU, the EEA or Switzerland is usually automatically recognized when you apply for a licence to practise. However, there may also be deviations from this rule. This depends on the country in which you completed your training and when. If you began your professional training after your country of training joined the EU/EEA, your professional qualification will be automatically recognized.
If your professional qualification does not originate from the EU, EEA or Switzerland, other regulations apply.

In addition to the equivalence of the professional qualification, you must also meet other requirements for the permit to be issued. Further requirements include, for example, sufficient German language skills and health suitability.
In principle, you can also apply for the procedure from abroad.

Requirements

  • You have a professional qualification as a dentist from the EU, the EEA or Switzerland.
  • You want to work as a dentist in Germany.
  • You can provide proof of competence in the federal state of Bremen.
  • Personal suitability: You are reliable to work as a dentist and have no criminal record.
  • Health suitability: You are mentally and physically fit to work as a dentist.
  • You have German language skills at the required level. This is usually general language skills at level B2 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and technical language skills at level C1.