The American Board of Dental Examiners clinical dental licensure examination: a strategy for evidence-based testing.

The evolution and implementation of a uniform national clinical examination has become a reality under the guidance of the American Board of Dental Examiners (ADEX). The defined purpose of this examination is to provide a defensible construct that assesses the critical clinical competencies of dental and dental hygiene candidates that will differentiate between competent and incompetent entry-level practitioners. The author includes a discussion of validity evidence that will be gathered by ADEX in order to support the decisions and interpretations made concerning competency and the agency's claim for validity. Included is a brief discussion of some controversial opinions regarding general validity concerns involving clinical dental licensure exam constructs. The author intends for this manuscript to provide a better appreciation for the science of psychometrics as it is applied to evidence-based testing for entry-level dental and dental hygiene candidates.