DEA Licensure Regulations
Beginning on June 27, 2023, the federal training requirement under the Medication Access and Training Expansion (MATE) Act requires dentists to complete eight hours of training (once per lifetime) before receiving a new Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) license or renewing an existing one. This training requirement applies to any dentist with a DEA registration to prescribe controlled substances (Schedules II, III, IV, and V). Dentists who have graduated in the past five years could use qualifying coursework with certificates from their dental school but may need to add additional coursework to complete up to eight hours of training.
Compliance with this requirement must be completed at the time of your next scheduled DEA license submission. Practitioners will report completion of this new requirement by checking a box on their online DEA registration form affirming that they have completed the coursework. Whether a registrant is filling out their initial registration application or simply renewing, this action must be taken.
Learn more about the coursework, dates, and locations of courses below.
Course Information
What coursework is required, and what content should be included?
Coursework for this requirement must be from approved training providers on the safe prescribing of controlled substances. As an overarching concept, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) recommends that content should be related to the prevention, recognition, and care of people with substance use disorders, including those with concurrent pain and/or psychiatric and medical co-morbidities. Categorized for organizational purposes, recommended core curricular training elements could therefore include:
1. Substance Use Disorders (SUD)
- Use of validated screening tools for SUD and risk factors for substance use, including mental disorders
- Diagnosis and assessment of individuals who screen positive for SUDs
- The initiation and management of FDA-approved medications for SUDs (opioids, alcohol, and tobacco), including the impact of unique, individual physiology and metabolism on medication pharmacodynamics
- Consideration of polysubstance use and co-occurring mental disorders
- Patient and family education on safety and overdose prevention (diversion control; safe storage; use of naloxone)
2. Effective Treatment Planning
- Use of patient-centered decision-making and paradigms of care, and use of evidence-based communication strategies such as shared decision-making and motivational interviewing
- The impact of stigma, trauma, and the social determinants of health on substance use and recovery • Collaborating with other disciplines to facilitate access to medications and Legal and ethical issues involved in the care of patients with SUD 3. Pain management and substance misuse
- The assessment of patients with acute, subacute, or chronic components of developing an effective treatment plan, including general principles underlying nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic analgesic therapy, as well as the importance of multidisciplinary treatment interventions
- Managing patients on opioid analgesics, including tapering off the medication when the benefits of opioids no longer outweigh the risks
- Recognizing signs of OUD in the setting of prescribed opioids
Who can offer these classes?
Only approved training providers can satisfy this requirement. Local approved training providers include the Massachusetts Dental Society (MDS) and Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. Both are ADA CERP Providers. Certificates of completion are required, and CE credits are not required.
There is no statute of limitations. (It is recommended that courses provided by the same lecturer taken in multiple years only be counted once.) Prior courses are eligible with the certificate of completion. (It is recommended that only courses taken within the past five years be used.) Training credits for state licensure are eligible.
Where can you take these classes?
- BORID Day Friday, September 12 – Dr. Richard Harold Pharmacologic Management of Acute Dental Pain—in-person at MDS headquarters.
- Yankee Dental Congress (January 2026). Registration opens October 8, 2026. Registration link coming.
- “Pain Management for the Dentist”—Dr. David Keith (two hours)
- FREE Addiction Training for Prescribers to Fulfill 8-hour DEA MATE Act / Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 Training Requirement
The Massachusetts Dental Society (ADA CERP provider) provides Yankee continuing education (CE) credits.
Additional information
American Dental Association
ADA CERP provider
Massachusetts Dental Society