The intent of the NBDE Part 1 is to assess the capacity to apply concepts, principles, and knowledge of dental students. Generally, the National Board Dental Examination, commonly referred to as the NBDE, is taken by 2nd year US accredited dental schools and international accredited dentists. The NBDE Part 1 is the first hurdle in achieving you US dental licensure, and passing is required NBDE Exam Testtakersat the majority of schools in order for you to proceed into the clinical phase of your education and for international students it determines their acceptance into a dental school. The NBDE Part 1 encompasses the first two years of didactic education in dental school. Your NBDE scores play a significant role in your dental career. Residency programs use your NBDE score to screen and selectively compare students from different schools who might have gone through different curricula. Therefore, a good NBDE board score can give you a big boost to your residency application. Passing the NBDE should be the bare minimum for anyone. Failing the NBDE is common though. It can potentially prevent a student from proceeding into the clinical training phase; thereby placing you a few months behind your current classmates and you'll squander a couple thousand dollars for tuition.
Effective as of January 1, 2007, the National Dental Board Examination for the Part 1 consists of 400 comprehensive questions. Each of the four categories: Anatomic Sciences/Histology, Biochemistry/Physiology, Microbiology/Pathology, and Dental Anatomy/Occlusion will each comprise of 100 questions and will be randomly dispersed throughout the exam. Approximately 80% of the NBDE Part 1 will be composed of independent/stand-alone questions and 20% will be "testlets"- series of questions that are associated with a clinical scenario.
In the morning session, the test-taker will face 200 Questions. Prometric allows 3 1/2 hours to complete these 200 questions. In between the morning session and the afternoon session, the dental student is given the option of an one hour break. After the break, the student will be allotted another 3 1/2 hours to complete 200 questions. To stimulate test day, we highly suggest that you utilize the Crack the NBDE stimulation tests according to this schedule.
Schedule| 8:30 AM | Reporting Time |
| 8:45 AM | Instructions |
| 9:00 AM - 12:30 PM | Morning Session (200 Questions covering 4 categories) |
| 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM | Lunch Break |
| 1:30 PM - 5:00 PM | Afternoon Session (200 Questions covering 4 categories) |
The fee for the computerized Part 1 of the National Board Dental Examination (NBDE) is $260. You can register for the NBDE Part 1 Computerized Based Test (CBT) by visiting American Dental Association (ADA). The base re-examination fee is $85 in addition to $30 per subject. In order to retake the NBDE Part 1 examination or any of the subject(s), examinees must wait a minimum 90 day grace period from the last sitting date. Keep into consideration that one is entitled to only 2 computerized NBDE Part 1 exams annually. After receiving a letter that confirms eligibility, the examinee can make schedule arrangements for the NBDE Part 1 Exam by calling the given 1-800 provided on the letter. The examinee is allotted a 12 month period to make arrangements to sit for the NBDE exam. If the examinee fails to make arrangements within this time frame, the examinee will forfeit his money and will have to reapply to take the NBDE. The examinee can expect his/her NBDE Part 1 results in 3-4 weeks.