How to check a periodontist's credentials Patient guide
Four public records confirm a Florida periodontist's credentials: the Department of Health license search, the federal NPI Registry, the American Board of Periodontology locator and CODA's list of accredited residencies. A CODA-accredited periodontics residency lasts three consecutive academic years. Florida licenses periodontists as dentists.
How do I look up a dentist's license in Florida?
The Florida Department of Health license search at mqa-internet.doh.state.fl.us/MQASearchServices/HealthCareProviders looks up every licensed dentist, including periodontists. Choose the Board of Dentistry, then search by name, license number, city, county or zip code. Results can be limited to practicing or non-practicing license statuses.
Each license record lists:
- Profession: a periodontist's record reads Dentist.
- License number, license status such as Clear/Active, expiration date and original issue date.
- Address of record and any secondary locations.
- Discipline on File and Public Complaint, each marked Yes or No.
A public complaint is a charging document that has not been proven. Discipline on File reads Yes once a final order imposes discipline. The site shows complaints filed on or after November 1999. Board certification is checked on a separate site.
What does a periodontist's NPI record show?
An NPI record shows the provider's National Provider Identifier, practice address and taxonomy codes. The NPI Registry at npiregistry.cms.hhs.gov is a free, query-only CMS database updated daily.
Taxonomy code 1223P0300X reads "Dentist, Periodontics" in the registry. Each taxonomy entry carries a state license number, which links the NPI record to the Florida license. CMS publishes registry data as reported to NPPES by the provider or someone acting on the provider's behalf. The taxonomy is self-reported. Confirm training and board status on the CODA and ABP records.
- Search by last name and state FL.
- Match the license number to the Florida record.
- Check the practice address against the office being booked.
Providers can edit their own NPPES records at any time, per CMS. What a periodontist is.
How do I verify board certification?
Board certification is verified on the American Board of Periodontology (ABP) locator at abperio.org, which lists board-certified periodontists in good standing with the ABP. Search by zip code and choose a range for best results.
A diplomate has completed a CODA-accredited periodontics residency and passed a written qualifying examination and an oral examination. Board-certified periodontists are certified in periodontology and in dental implant surgery. Certificates issued since May 2013 are time-limited. Each certificate runs 6 years. Diplomates also register with the ABP every year. A diplomate placed on Inactive status may not claim to be board certified.
Florida law bars a dentist from holding out as a specialist without an ADA- and CODA-approved specialty program plus board eligibility or diplomate status. The statute keeps an exception for dentists who have held out as specialists since 1964. What board certification means.
What do the letters after a periodontist's name mean?
The letters after a periodontist's name are degrees and titles: DDS and DMD are the same dental degree, and MS or MSD is a master's degree earned with periodontics residency.
| Credential | What it means | Where to verify |
|---|---|---|
| DDS or DMD | Doctor of Dental Surgery or Doctor of Dental Medicine; same degree, same curriculum requirements | Florida license search |
| Certificate in periodontics | Completed a CODA-accredited periodontics residency | CODA program search; ask for the school |
| MS or MSD | Master's degree with the residency, such as UF's Master of Science in Dental Sciences | The school |
| Diplomate, ABP | Passed the ABP qualifying and oral examinations | ABP locator |
| Fellow | An honor from the granting organization; American College of Dentists fellowship is by invitation only | The granting organization |
| NPI taxonomy 1223P0300X | Self-reported periodontics code | NPI Registry |
| AAP member | Member of the specialty society | AAP Find a Periodontist |
How do I confirm where a periodontist trained?
Training is confirmed by matching the periodontist's residency school to CODA's program search at coda.ada.org. The search lists accredited advanced dental education programs, including periodontics, with each program's mailing address, site visit years and current accreditation status.
CODA requires a periodontics program to run three consecutive academic years. Instruction must total at least 30 months. The standards require training in implant surgery, from site development to placement and the care of the tissue around implants. Residents also train to competency in adult minimal sedation by mouth and moderate sedation by injection, such as IV.
Completing a CODA-accredited periodontics program is the entry requirement for the ABP qualifying examination. Case Western's program, for example, awards a certificate in periodontics and a Master of Science in Dentistry after a 36-month course of study.
- Ask for the school and the graduation year.
- Match the school to CODA's list.
Florida periodontics programs.
Questions
Is a periodontist a doctor?
A periodontist is a dentist with a doctoral dental degree, a DDS or DMD, plus three years of periodontics training after dental school. The ADA treats the DDS and DMD as the same degree. A medical degree is separate, and the ADA Code refers to dentists who also practice medicine under a state license as dual degreed.
What does 'practice limited to periodontics' mean?
The phrase means the practice is devoted only to periodontics. Under the ADA Code, dentists whose practice is devoted exclusively to an announced specialty may say the practice 'is limited to' that specialty. Florida law also restricts who may hold out as a specialist to dentists who meet its specialty training and board requirements.
What does LANAP certified mean?
LANAP certification is training in one laser protocol from the Institute for Advanced Laser Dentistry. Certification starts with a three-day Laser BootCamp. A LANAP Proficiency certificate follows the full five-day curriculum. Only certified dentists may perform the protocol. Board certification in periodontics comes separately from the American Board of Periodontology.
Can I look up malpractice claims against a Florida dentist?
The Florida license search shows Discipline on File and Public Complaint for every dentist. Liability claims appear in Florida practitioner profiles, and the Department requires profiles only from medical doctors, osteopathic, podiatric and chiropractic physicians and advanced practice registered nurses. Dentists are not on that list.
Is the AAP finder a complete list of periodontists?
No. The AAP's Find a Periodontist tool lists AAP members who chose to appear, and the AAP states that not all members have opted in. The ABP locator lists only board-certified periodontists in good standing. The Florida license search is the record that covers every licensed dentist.
Sources
- Florida Department of Health. MQA license verification search
- Florida Department of Health. MQA Search Services and Data Download User Guide, 2025
- Florida Statutes 466.0282, Specialties (2026)
- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. NPPES NPI Registry
- CMS NPI Registry API: taxonomy 1223P0300X, Dentist, Periodontics (Florida records)
- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. NPPES data dissemination
- American Board of Periodontology. Find a board certified periodontist
- American Board of Periodontology. Maintenance of certification
- American Board of Periodontology. The importance of certification
- American Board of Periodontology. Pathway to certification
- American Board of Periodontology. Annual registration
- Commission on Dental Accreditation. Search for dental programs
- Commission on Dental Accreditation. Accreditation standards for advanced dental education programs in periodontics
- American Dental Association, MouthHealthy. DDS and DMD
- University of Florida College of Dentistry. Periodontics program
- Case Western Reserve University. Periodontics, MSD
- American College of Dentists. Fellowship in the College
- American Academy of Periodontology. Find an AAP member periodontist
- American Dental Association. Principles of Ethics and Code of Professional Conduct, 2025
- Millennium Dental Technologies. LANAP protocol FAQs (manufacturer)
Patient guide Read next
First periodontist visit step by stepA first periodontist visit moves through a medical and medication review, an exam, a full periodontal chart, x-rays, a diagnosis by stage and grade, and a written treatment plan with a cost estimate.
How long periodontal treatment takesPeriodontal treatment time runs from a single deep-cleaning visit to many months when extraction, bone grafting and an implant are staged.
Sedation for gum and implant surgeryGum and implant surgery is done under local anesthesia, alone or with nitrous oxide, oral sedation, IV moderate sedation or general anesthesia.
Treatment codes on a periodontal planThe codes on a periodontal treatment plan are CDT codes, the HIPAA standard code set for dental records and claims, published by the American Dental Association.Referrals to a periodontistA referral to a periodontist is required only when the dental plan requires one.
Second opinion on a periodontal planA second opinion is a separate evaluation of the diagnosis and plan by another periodontist, built on copies of the first office's x-rays, chart and coded plan.