National Board Dental Examinations (NBDE) I & II

What are the NBDE I & II?

• The National Board Dental Examinations (NBDE) I and II are exams that cover the basic dental knowledge you must have to become a dentist in the U.S.
• These exams are pass/fail and there are no grades or percentages given 
• In order to apply to the majority of advanced standing DMD/DDS programs, you will need to pass the NBDE I
• Some programs also require that you pass the NBDE II 
• You must take these exams at a Prometric center in the USA (unlike TOEFL which can be taken abroad)
• Information and registration for the exams can be done here.
• Given that these exams are not graded, it is better you pass on the first attempt in order to have a good chance of admission into an advanced standing DMD/DDS program (Though I have seen people accepted after failing once).
• I would recommend completing both exams in order to strengthen your profile, and it will be easier to complete them now rather than during dental school when you'll be busy with other things.

How do I prepare for the NBDE I

• This exam covers the subjects of 1st and 2nd year of dental school:
  
  • Anatomic Sciences
    
  • Biochemistry-Physiology
    
  • Microbiology-Pathology
    
  • Dental Anatomy and Occlusion
• Detailed information about the content of the exam can be found here.
• There are many review books available for this exam (Kaplan, Mosby's, etc.), each claiming to be better than the other. However, in my experience I feel reading those vast books cover-to-cover is a waste of time and will not give you a sense of what to realistically expect in the exam.
• After losing lots of time and money on almost every review book available, I ended up only using two resources for my exam: dental decks part I and previous released ASDA exam papers.
• I would recommend going through the decks at least once or twice along with wikipedia/subject books. The questions are VERY similar to what you will see on the exam.
• Similarly, go through the previous ASDA papers as much as possible. The questions on your exam  will cover more or less the same topics

How do I prepare for the NBDE II

• This exam covers the subjects of 3rd and 4th year of dental school:
  
  • Endodontics
    
  • Operative Dentistry
    
  • Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
    
  • Pain Control
    
  • Oral Diagnosis
    
  • Orthodontics / Pediatric Dentistry
    
  • Patient Management
    
  • Periodontics
    
  • Pharmacology
    
  • Prosthodontics
• Similar to Part I, I ended up only using two resources for my exam: dental decks part II and previous released ASDA exam papers.
• I would recommend going through the decks at least once or twice along with wikipedia/subject books. The questions are VERY similar to what you will see on the exam!
• Again, go through the previous ASDA papers as much as possible. Your exam questions will cover more or less the exact same topics

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