Texas State Board of Dental Examiners: Translation Requirements for Documents in Another Language

Sample translation: a Congolese secondary school transcript

This is what an order looks like when it is delivered, with a fictitious student. The PDF starts with the signed certification page, and the translation follows the original line for line: every abbreviation is explained, stamps, seals and signatures are noted in brackets, and the grid stays the same, so an admissions officer or a credential evaluator can match it without guessing.

Swipe to see the second page →

What to notice

• Two school years in the same grid as the original: every subject, grading period, exam and total, so each grade can be read against its maximum.
• The French rating abbreviations are translated (TB becomes VG, Very good), and every abbreviation is explained in a translator's note at the foot of the same page, including one the original never defines.
• Dates are written the US way (the original's 02/07/2015 is February 7, 2015).
• The photo, seals and signatures are noted in brackets where they appear.

Download the sample PDF

More sample translations

Worth knowing about TSBDE

TSBDE requirements in detail

The Texas route for a dentist trained abroad

TSBDE licenses graduates of non-CODA schools by examination only after they finish a CODA-accredited program in an ADA-recognized specialty, such as orthodontics, periodontics or prosthodontics, lasting at least two full-time academic years (Dentist license: foreign-educated graduates).

General practice residencies and AEGD programs do not count in place of the regional clinical exam.

Graduates of such a specialty program who passed NBDE I and II or the INBDE ask TSBDE, through licensinghelp@tsbde.texas.gov, for authorization to sit for a general dentistry regional exam; that request has no fee (Dentist license: foreign-educated graduates).

The application package then combines documents from three places: the foreign dental school (transcript or diploma, translated), the US specialty program (final transcript, sealed), and the testing agencies, whose scores TSBDE validates electronically when they are released to Texas (Dentist license: foreign-educated graduates).

Sealed envelopes and the translation

TSBDE wants the foreign transcript or diploma "in the original sealed envelope" and also translated (Dentist license: foreign-educated graduates).

The page does not say whether the translation must travel inside the school's envelope.

Ask your school to send the record sealed, keep it unopened, and send the certified translation with the package; if you want TSBDE to have it in a sealed envelope from us, eVerbary can mail it in a sealed, signed envelope: choose the hard copy at checkout with the Board's address ($19.95 Priority or $37.95 Express in the US) and write in the order notes that it is for the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners.

License verifications from other countries follow the same sealed-envelope rule: each must come in its own unopened envelope from the issuing authority and state the license number, dates, status and any discipline (Dentist license: foreign-educated graduates).

If that verification is in another language, the all-documents rule applies to it too.

Documents applicants usually translate

• Foreign dental school diploma (DDS or equivalent)
• Foreign dental school transcript or mark sheets
• License verification or good-standing letter from a dental council abroad
• Name-change records such as a marriage certificate

What an eVerbary translation includes

• A complete English translation of every page, stamps, seals and handwritten notes included, laid out like the original so each line can be matched.
• Grades, hours and credits exactly as recorded, with the grading scale the document prints. We never convert marks to a US GPA or equivalency.
• A signed certificate of translation accuracy on letterhead, with our contact details, delivered as a PDF you can upload or print.
• $24.95 per page with no word cap, certification included; 24 hours for one to three pages as standard. Regular clients who need it can get delivery in as little as 30 minutes, on request.
• Notarization added at checkout ($34.90 per order) when the office asks for a notarized translation.

Submitting the translation to TSBDE

• Mail the complete package, with the translation and the sealed foreign records, to TSBDE as the 2026 application instructs; incomplete packages are flagged by email as deficiencies (Dentist license: foreign-educated graduates, application).

• Your foreign school, the US specialty program and the testing agencies send their own documents and scores; eVerbary supplies only the English translation.

How to order

1. Scan or photograph every page of the document, front and back, including any stamps on the reverse.
2. Upload it, choose the language and "certified", and see the price before paying.
3. Receive the PDF, usually within 24 hours for one to three pages, and submit it with the copy of the original wherever the office asks for it.

Frequently asked questions