Examinations

CITA is an independent regional testing agency which administers the CITA dental and dental hygiene clinical licensure examinations in the states of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and the territory of Puerto Rico.

The examinations are administered at: the University of Alabama School of Dentistry in Birmingham, AL; the Louisiana State University School of Dentistry in New Orleans, LA; the University of Mississippi School of Dentistry in Jackson, MS; the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry in Chapel Hill, NC; Guilford Technical Community College (hygiene only) in Jamestown, NC; the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, SC; and the University of Puerto Rico School of Dentistry in San Juan, PR.

The CITA examination has been developed and is revised as needed by the CITA Board of Directors and the Members of CITA.   These individuals have considerable content expertise upon which to draw, and also rely on its Job Task Analysis, practice surveys, current curricula, standards of competency, published literature and textbooks on psychometric principles and the American Association of Dental Examiners’ (AADE) publication entitled “Guidance for Clinical Licensure Examinations in Dentistry” to assure that the content and protocol of the examination are current and relevant to the practice of dentistry.  Determining the examination content also is guided by such considerations as patient availability, logistical restraints, and the potential to ensure that a skill can be evaluated reliably.  The examination content and evaluation methodologies are reviewed on an ongoing basis and are revised annually.

Dental Examination

The dental examination consists of five (5) individual, skill-specific Parts: one (1) computer-based (National Board Exam Parts I and II), two (2) manikin-based, and two (2) patient-based examinations.  Each examination is listed below:

• Part I:   Computer-Based Examination (National Board Exam Parts I and II)
• Part II:  Manikin-Based Endodontics Examination
• Part III: Manikin-Based Fixed Prosthodontics Examination
• Part IV: Patient-Based Periodontal Examination          
• Part V:  Patient-Based Restorative Examination

Dental Hygiene Examination

The dental hygiene examination consists of two (2) individual, skill-specific Parts: one (1) computer-based (National Board Exam) and one (1) clinical patient-based examination.