The Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) is the national programmatic accrediting agency for dental and dental-related education programs at the post-secondary level. CODA employs a rigorous, collaborative peer review accreditation process to evaluate the quality of more than 1,400 dental and dental-related education programs.

The General Practice Residency (GPR) program is designed for advanced clinical and didactic training in general dentistry with intensive hospital experience at the postdoctoral level. GPR programs provide instruction and experience in the delivery of care to a wide range of ambulatory and hospitalized patients. This training and exposure prepares dentists to obtain privileges at local hospitals once in private practice. Most GPR programs are sponsored by either a hospital or a hospital affiliated institution such as a dental school.

The Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) program provides advanced training in clinical dentistry and applied basic sciences. It is a planned, sequential postdoctoral training program specifically designed to meet the needs of recent graduates who want to enhance their skills as general practitioners. The program is an advanced supplement to the predoctoral dental curriculum, not a continuation of that training. The majority of AEGD programs are one year. Several programs offer two-year positions with a primary objective of training academicians.