DEA Registration Renewal for Dentists: the MATE Act 8-Hour Training
What DEA-registered dentists need to renew, how the MATE Act 8-hour opioid and substance use disorder training works, what counts toward it, and how to document your attestation.
Quick answerDEA-registered dentists renew every three years and must attest, at their first renewal on or after June 27, 2023, to completing eight hours of training on treating and managing patients with opioid or substance use disorders. It is a one-time requirement, it can be met cumulatively across multiple courses, and the DEA renewal form asks you to check a box.
Of every credential a dentist holds, the DEA registration is the easiest to forget. It renews on a three-year cycle that has nothing to do with your state license, it arrives by email you may not have opened, and unlike a license lapse, a DEA lapse does not stop you from practicing. It just stops you from prescribing, usually at the moment you need to.
Since June 2023 there is a second thing to get right: the MATE Act training attestation.
What the MATE Act requires
The Medication Access and Training Expansion Act requires DEA-registered practitioners to complete eight hours of training on treating and managing patients with opioid or other substance use disorders. The deadline was tied to your registration: you satisfy it before an initial registration, or by your first regularly scheduled renewal occurring on or after June 27, 2023.
Three things about this requirement are worth understanding clearly, because they are the parts most often misread:
- It applies to dentists. The requirement reaches practitioners registered to prescribe controlled substances in Schedules II through V. Holding the registration is what triggers it, not how often you write a prescription.
- It is one-time, not per-cycle. Once satisfied and attested, you do not repeat it at every renewal.
- It can be met cumulatively. The eight hours do not have to come from one course or one provider.
What counts toward the eight hours
This is where dentists most often assume they need to start from zero when they do not. The training may be completed in a single eight-hour session or accumulated across multiple sessions, in classroom, seminar, or virtual formats. Past trainings you have already completed can count toward the total, and relevant dental school coursework may count as well.
In practice, many dentists find that a combination gets them there: an opioid prescribing course taken for state CE, a pain management seminar from a dental association, and prior coursework can add up to the eight hours without a single new registration.
The catch is documentation. If those hours are spread across four years, three providers, and a transcript, you need to be able to reconstruct them, which is a lot easier if the certificates were saved as you went.
How you report it
You self-attest. The DEA registration and renewal form asks you to check a box confirming you have satisfied the training requirement. You are not uploading certificates at renewal time.
That is convenient, and it is also the reason to be careful. You are making an attestation on a federal form. Keep the certificates that back it up, the same way you would keep CE certificates for a board audit. Nobody asks for them until someone does.
Do not confuse this with your state opioid CE
Many states separately require opioid or controlled-substance CE for dental license renewal, often on every cycle. These are different requirements:
| MATE Act training | State opioid CE | |
|---|---|---|
| Required by | Federal (DEA) | Your state dental board |
| Frequency | One time | Often every renewal cycle |
| Hours | 8 | Set by the state |
| How you report | Checkbox on the DEA form | Board renewal, subject to CE audit |
| Tied to | Your DEA registration | Your dental license |
A course can satisfy both, but satisfying one does not satisfy the other, and their deadlines fall in different years. Your state’s requirement is on our dental license renewal by state pages.
Tracking a three-year credential you will forget
The core problem with DEA registration is not complexity, it is interval. Three years is long enough that whatever reminder you set in the moment is gone by the time it matters, and the registration is not visible in the daily run of the practice the way a license or a CPR card is.
The fix is to treat it like every other credential: give it a record with an expiration date, attach the registration certificate, and attach the training documentation next to it.
DentaReady does this alongside your license, sedation permit, CPR/BLS card, and CE certificates. Your DEA registration gets its own tracked expiration with reminders well before the three years are up, and the courses making up your eight MATE hours are stored as CE records with their certificates attached, so a total spread over years is one screen instead of an archaeology project. For the full renewal picture, see our dentist license renewal and CE guide.
Start free with your first three documents and stop letting a three-year clock run unwatched.
Frequently asked questions
What is the MATE Act training requirement?
The Medication Access and Training Expansion (MATE) Act requires DEA-registered practitioners to complete eight hours of training on treating and managing patients with opioid or other substance use disorders. Practitioners satisfy it before an initial registration or by their first regularly scheduled renewal occurring on or after June 27, 2023.
Does the MATE Act apply to dentists?
Yes. The requirement applies to DEA-registered practitioners who prescribe controlled substances in Schedules II through V, and that includes dentists. If you hold a DEA registration, the requirement applies to you regardless of how infrequently you prescribe.
Is the 8-hour training a one-time requirement or every renewal?
It is a one-time requirement. Once you have satisfied the eight hours and attested to it, you are not required to repeat the training at each subsequent DEA renewal. Your state board may separately mandate recurring opioid CE, which is a different requirement on a different clock.
What counts toward the 8 hours?
The training can be completed in a single session or accumulated across multiple sessions, in person or virtually. Past trainings you already completed can count, and relevant dental school coursework may count as well. Courses from accredited providers on the treatment and management of patients with opioid or substance use disorders are the core of what qualifies.
How do I report that I completed the training?
You self-attest by checking a box on your DEA registration or renewal form. The DEA does not ask you to upload certificates at the time of renewal, but you are attesting to a federal form, so you should retain your documentation in case you are ever asked to substantiate it.
How often does a dentist's DEA registration renew?
Practitioner DEA registrations run on a three-year cycle. That cycle is independent of your state dental license, so the two expiration dates usually do not line up and each has to be tracked on its own.
What happens if my DEA registration lapses?
You lose prescribing authority for controlled substances immediately. There is no practical grace period for prescribing, and reinstating a registration is slower and more disruptive than renewing on time. Because the DEA cycle is three years long, it is easy to forget, which is exactly why it deserves a tracked expiration date and an early reminder.