Doctors need a dental licence in Germany

A medical doctor needs a separate dental licence before entering dental training in Germany. Your full doctor licence does not allow you to work on teeth, gums, or dentures.

This matters for doctors who see dentistry as a quick second specialty. Germany treats medicine and dentistry as 2 separate regulated professions.

Medicine and dentistry are separate

A medical licence allows work as a physician. A dental licence allows work as a dentist. The state licensing office gives each licence after checking a different degree.

Dental school includes dental prosthetics, orthodontics, restorative dentistry, and dental surgery. Medical school does not replace those subjects, even if you worked in ENT, maxillofacial surgery, or emergency medicine.

The German dental licence is called dental Approbation. It is based on dental education, not on your medical Approbation.

What happens with a medical degree

The licensing office compares your university degree with German dental education. If your diploma is in medicine, the office sees that you did not finish a dentistry degree.

You therefore do not enter the dental recognition process as a dentist. A medical diploma is not converted into a dental diploma through an exam or a short course.

A medical specialist title also does not change this result. An ENT specialist and an oral surgeon still need the required dental qualification for dental work.

The important exception

Oral and maxillofacial surgery is the exception people often mean. This specialty is called Mund-, Kiefer- und Gesichtschirurgie in Germany.

To train in this specialty, doctors need both a medical licence and a dental licence. One licence alone is not enough.

A doctor with medical training only must first obtain a recognised dental degree. That normally means studying dentistry, including the required university examinations.

If you are already a dentist

Foreign-trained dentists use the dental recognition process. You apply to the licensing office in the German state where you want to work.

The office checks your diploma, transcript, identity papers, language papers, and professional history. If it finds major differences, it can require a dental knowledge exam.

The dental knowledge exam tests dentistry. It is not the medical knowledge exam for foreign physicians. The papers, exam content, and licence are separate.

What to do instead

1. If your degree says medicine, apply for a medical doctor licence, not dental recognition.
2. If you hold both degrees, ask the state licensing office about each licence separately.
3. If you want oral and maxillofacial surgery, ask the university which dental degree requirements you still need.
4. If you are a dentist, use the official recognition finder for the state where you will work.

Stand: 2026-10-01. This is a guide, not legal advice. Every German state has its own rules, and rules change. Check with your state's [medical chamber (Landesärztekammer)](https://www.bundesaerztekammer.de/aerztekammern) before you act.