How to transfer your Dental assistant licence to Tennessee (2026)

Dental assistant work in Tennessee is licensed at state level, by the Tennessee Board of Dentistry. This page says what a dental assistant licensed or working in another state has to do to work in Tennessee, in the order to do it, and what goes wrong when the order is reversed.

How the transfer works

Dental assisting rules differ more by state than almost any other job: some states register assistants, some require a DANB radiology or infection control certificate for expanded duties, and some require nothing beyond on-the-job training. In Tennessee the Board of Dentistry sets what an assistant may do and which certificate is needed; a DANB certificate carries over, a state registration usually does not.

Exam: DANB certificates (CDA, RHS) where the state requires them.

How long: none to six weeks. Fee: nothing to about $100; the current figure is on the licensing body's own site.

What to have ready before you move

• DANB certificates
• Radiology certificate
• CPR card

Start the paperwork before you give notice. Every week the licence is not done is a week you are not paid, and nothing in the process needs you to be in Tennessee already.

What people get wrong

• Assuming expanded duties carry over; they are per state
• Working radiology without the certificate the state requires

Who hires dental assistants in Tennessee

Dental assistants in Tennessee are hired by private practices and dental service organisations. The metros with the most of that work are Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga. Employers who could not hire locally and have filed with the Department of Labor are on the Tennessee openings page.

For the money side: the median dental assistant in Tennessee earned $46,090 a year ($22 an hour) in May 2024 across 6,370 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Tennessee has no state income tax on wages. What that leaves you after tax is its own page.

Everything about Tennessee, on one page

The Tennessee page has the registries and boards, the income tax table, the programs that pay you to come and the openings filed this month. If you know which state you are leaving, the move pages compare the two directly. Creating a free Workmerica profile with your trade and your destination puts you in front of Tennessee employers hiring from out of state.