JCNDE Introduces DENTPIN

Dental and dental hygiene students will soon be identified using a new eight-digit DENTPIN beginning January, 2010.  DENTPIN (DENTal Personal Identifier Number) is a unique personal identifier for applicants and students involved with the U.S. dental education system and standardized testing programs.

Developed in a joint effort of the American Dental Association (ADA), American Dental Education Association (ADEA), Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA), Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations (JCNDE), and the ADA Council on Dental Education and Licensure (CDEL). DENTPIN will be used only within the dental education community. It will protect student privacy by eliminating use of the Social Security Number. Dental and dental hygiene students will need to register for a DENTPIN before applying for the National Board Examinations.

Academic dental institutions should prepare now to add DENTPINs to student records. Use of DENTPINs in reporting by institutions to ADA and ADEA will be phased in starting in 2010. Details about the phase-in, including how DENTPINs will be integrated into the transmission of student data, are forthcoming from the JCNDE. Information regarding DENTPIN will be made available in the National Board Dental Hygiene Examination Candidate Guide and the ADEA newsletter.  

For more information and to register for a DENTPIN, visit the ADA website at http://www.ada.org/prof/ed/testing/DENTPIN/index.asp .