VTS (Dentistry): Academy of Veterinary Dental Technicians

NAVTA describes AVDT as giving technicians the opportunity to expand their knowledge and their professional value by becoming a credentialed specialist in the field of animal dentistry.

AVDT's constitution states the purpose in clinical terms: the veterinary technician who becomes certified as a VTS (Dentistry) will demonstrate superior knowledge of veterinary dentistry while promoting welfare for the companion animal.

This is the credential for a credentialed veterinary technician whose practice centers on dentistry, completed through the academy's own mentorship program and examined by it, with NAVTA recognition at the full tier.

The experience floor has three parts that all have to line up: 3 years of work experience, a minimum of 6000 hours in the field of veterinary medicine as a credentialed veterinary technician, and 2000 of those hours in the practice of veterinary dentistry within the two years prior to applying.

The recency window is the part that catches planners, because the 2000 dentistry hours have to fall inside the two years before the application rather than anywhere in your career.

Acceptance into the two-year AVDT mentorship program then adds a further commitment: a minimum of 4000 hours practicing veterinary technology, with 3000 of those hours spent in veterinary dentistry.

AVDT accepts applications once a year, opening October 15 and due November 30, so a missed window means waiting for the next cycle.

The packet opens with proof you are a currently credentialed veterinary technician or nurse in good standing: a photocopy of an unexpired license.

After acceptance, you build the credentials packet during the mentorship: two case logs, 1 categorical and 1 chronological, with a minimum of 50 specific dentistry cases, and five case reports, typed and double-spaced, of no more than five pages each.

You also complete twenty-five hours of wet lab training and 15 hours of advanced dentistry lectures.

The credentialing page's own breakdown of those wet-lab and lecture hours lists different totals than its summary, so confirm the exact hours against your graduating year's packet.

The packet is graded on a 100-point scale: 95 to 100 makes you a candidate for the exam automatically, 85 to 94 gives you two weeks to make corrections, and below 85 means resubmitting after an additional year in the program.

The qualifying exam comes after the credentials packet passes, and it has two phases.

Phase one is a remote written exam of 150-200 multiple-choice questions.

Once phase one is completed successfully, phase two is the practical portion: a hands-on section demonstrating skills that a veterinary technician in dentistry should be able to perform.

Then plan around a gap: the AVDT pages read for this page do not state how the credential is kept.

AVDT maintains a Maintenance of Certification page, but it requires a member login, so no public recertification requirement could be read.

Ask the academy what maintenance involves before you commit.

Check this before you plan around the hours: the AVDT pages read for this page state two different mentorship-hour figures.

The Become Certified page states a minimum of 4000 hours practicing veterinary technology with 3000 of those hours spent in veterinary dentistry.

The Application Process page for the Class of 2028 states 3200 hours with 2780 of those hours spent in veterinary dentistry.

There is also a second discrepancy, inside a single page: the Credentialing Guidelines page states twenty-five hours of wet lab training and 15 hours of advanced dentistry lectures, but its own breakdown of those hours lists per-topic totals that do not match the stated figures.

Because each graduating class works from its own credentials packet, confirm all of these hour figures against the packet you receive with your acceptance.

All of these pages were read on September 23, 2026.