The mission of the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) is to serve the public by establishing, maintaining and applying standards that ensure the quality and continuous improvement of dental and dental-related education and reflect the evolving practice of dentistry. The scope of the Commission on Dental Accreditation encompasses dental, advanced dental and allied dental education programs.

Dental education accreditation, initiated in the early 1900s, is conducted today by the Commission on Dental Accreditation, which operates under the auspices of the American Dental Association. It is a peer review mechanism that includes the involvement of members of the discipline, the broad educational community, employers, practitioners, the dental licensing community and public members. All of these groups participate in a process designed to ensure educational quality.