Does My State Have EFDA? Twenty-Five States, Checked

How to read this page

Two sourcing tiers are used below and the difference matters.

Verified means we retrieved the state statute, administrative code section, or board page itself, in addition to DANB's published state overview.

Per DANB means we retrieved DANB's public state overview document for that state but did not independently confirm it against the state's own code. DANB prints a disclaimer on every one of those documents stating that the data is for informational purposes only and is not a legal opinion regarding dental practice in any state. Treat those rows as a strong lead, not as the final word.

Two further cautions. DANB's own overviews for Tennessee and Virginia carry a note that DANB has not received confirmation that the information has been reviewed and approved by the appropriate state office. And the Colorado, Michigan, and Tennessee documents carried 2024 edition stamps when we checked, where most carried 2026, so those are the most likely to have moved.

Twenty-five states are covered, not fifty. If yours is not here, that is a gap in this page and not a finding about your state. Never read an omission as evidence that a state has no pathway.

And whatever this page says, your state board is the authority. Rules change, and a rule that changed last month will not be reflected here. Call them before you enroll in anything.

States with no expanded function credential

This is the group most often reported wrongly, because the absence of a credential is harder to confirm than its presence and most career pages simply assume every state has one.

Indiana. Indiana issues no titled expanded function credential. What exists is a per-duty qualification: an assistant qualified in coronal polishing, in applying medicaments for the control and prevention of caries, or in administering nitrous oxide, each with its own training requirement under the state's administrative code. Restorative placement is not among them.

Texas. Texas issues no expanded function certificate. Sealant and coronal polishing certificates were discontinued on September 1, 2017. Training requirements for those duties remain, but there is no certificate to earn and no expanded function credential above the registered dental assistant, whose registration is essentially a radiography credential.

New York. New York recognizes two categories of dental assistant, registered dental assistant and dental assistant with a limited permit, and neither is an expanded function level. DANB's New York overview lists polishing teeth including existing restorations, applying pit and fissure sealants, and any irreversible procedure among the functions not permitted to any category of dental assistant in the state.

Colorado. DANB's published Colorado overview states that there is one recognized level of dental assistants in Colorado with no education or training requirements. That document carried a 2024 stamp, which makes it the stalest entry on this page and the one most worth confirming directly with the Colorado Dental Board.

Florida is a partial case. Florida neither licenses nor registers dental assistants, so there is no credential to hold. It does define expanded and restorative function tiers in statute and rule, reached through a board-approved program, with the restorative tier additionally requiring 2,400 clinical hours within 24 months and a delegating dentist. So Florida has expanded functions without having a credential.

The twenty-five states, at a glance

The Credential column gives the state's own term. Searching for EFDA in a state that calls it something else is the most common reason people conclude their state has nothing.

The Source tier column tells you how far we got. Read the section above before relying on any row.

Two live situations worth knowing about

Massachusetts. DANB's Massachusetts overview reports that as of spring 2024 the Board of Registration in Dentistry temporarily stopped issuing EFDA licenses. If you are in Massachusetts and considering a program, this is the first call to make, before you pay anyone.

Iowa. Iowa law changed effective July 1, 2025 in a way that removed mandatory registration, with implementing rules described as pending when we checked. Anything written about Iowa assisting requirements before mid-2025 should be treated as possibly superseded.

These are the kind of changes that no career site surfaces, because career pages are written once and left. Your board's website and its recent meeting minutes are where this actually lives.

If you are moving states

There is no reciprocity compact for expanded function credentials and no national credential to transfer. This is genuinely one of the least well answered questions in dental assisting, and the honest answer is that it depends entirely on the specific pair of states.

The pattern that helps most: states that accept a DANB credential as a route in tend to be the easiest to enter from elsewhere, because a DANB credential does travel with you even when a state license does not. If your destination state accepts DANB certification as a pathway and you already hold it, you may need only the state-specific coursework and exam.

States that require graduation from a specific board-approved program are the hardest, because the requirement is about the program rather than the competency, and out-of-state programs are often not on the approved list.

Practical sequence when you move. Find your destination state's board page for dental auxiliaries. Find its approved program list. Ask the board directly whether your existing credential or coursework counts toward anything, in writing. Ask before you resign, not after you arrive.

Expect to keep your basic assisting job either way. Losing the expanded function authorization does not stop you working chairside in almost any state, but it usually does mean a pay adjustment, so plan for that in the move.

How many states have EFDA

This question has no reliable published answer, and it is worth explaining why rather than picking a number.

DANB's blog has stated 38 states. A DANB flier we reviewed described 28 plus 7 with an EFDA level, which is 35, while referring elsewhere in the same document to the 38 states that have an EFDA level. The ADA has stated 36 in its own material.

These are not all wrong. They are counting different things, because there is no agreed definition of what counts. A state with a single named expanded function credential clearly counts. A state that permits coronal polishing with a short course and nothing else is a judgment call. A state like Florida with statutory expanded function tiers and no credential to hold could be counted either way.

So the number is not the useful thing. Your state is the useful thing, and the answer is on your board's website.

Common questions