How the Approbation works with a foreign degree
To work as a dentist in Germany you need the Approbation, the licence to practise dentistry. You apply for it to the competent authority of a federal state (Land). Which route applies depends on where you completed your training.
Qualifications from the EU, the EEA or Switzerland that are listed in Annex V point 5.3.2 of Directive 2005/36/EC and were issued after the reference date given there are recognised automatically: there is no individual equivalence check, but you still have to apply. For applications filed by 31 October 2026 the decision is due at the latest three months after the complete documents arrive (§ 86 ZApprO). Other training from the EU, the EEA or Switzerland, and a third-country diploma that another EU/EEA state or Switzerland has already recognised, goes through an equivalence check. Professional experience and formally recognised lifelong learning can offset differences; otherwise an aptitude test (Eignungsprüfung) on the differences found follows. From 1 November 2026 these EU/EEA/Swiss routes are governed by § 12a ZHG (new version) instead of § 2.
For third-country qualifications the law changes on 1 November 2026 (Act of 22 July 2026, BGBl. 2026 I No. 225). Applications filed by 31 October 2026 continue under the old rules: the authority checks your documents to see whether your training is equivalent, and if it finds substantial differences you take the Kenntnisprüfung, a knowledge test on the content of the German state final exam. For applications from 1 November 2026 the Kenntnisprüfung is the default. A document-based equivalence check happens only if you choose it within four weeks of applying; the choice is binding for the whole procedure, and if substantial differences are found a Kenntnisprüfung still follows. The competent Land changes too: if you live in Germany, you apply in the Land of your habitual residence; if you live abroad, in the Land where you intend to practise. Until 31 October 2026 it is the Land where you intend to practise.
On every route you must show the German needed to practise. The law sets no level; in the Länder's practice it is general German at B2 plus a Fachsprachprüfung (specialist language exam) oriented at C1, usually run by the Landeszahnärztekammer (state dental chamber). With a third-country degree you can apply for a time-limited licence under § 13 ZHG while the Approbation procedure runs, for at most two years in total.
The guide above shows, for your situation, the steps, the documents, the language requirement, the competent authority with its official page, who runs the Fachsprachprüfung, and the legal basis with a verbatim quote. Each Land shows when it was checked and whether two sources (verified), one source (partial) or none (not verified) back the entry. We show a fee only where two sources state the same amount. Not covered: visas and residence permits, actual processing times and exemptions from the Fachsprachprüfung; the authority decides on those.