ADEX publishes a criteria sheet for every procedure, plus candidate worksheets and scoring rubrics. They are the exact basis of the grading. Only official ADEX publications are allowed in the clinic, along with your own handwritten notes inside the manual pages, so learn them before you arrive.

You work on magnetically retained typodonts and proprietary teeth that ADEX gives you at check-in, mounted in a manikin with a facial shroud. ADEX points candidates to similar products for practice at Acadental.com. Practising on a different system means learning the feel of the teeth under the clock.

Periodontal 90 minutes, Endodontic 3 hours, Prosthodontic 4 hours, Anterior Restorative 3 hours, Posterior Restorative 3.5 hours. Include the waits: when you send a restorative preparation for grading it can be away for up to 30 minutes or more per visit, and your finish time does not pause. Fewer separate modification submissions also saves time.

You bring your own instruments and materials, and no instrument list is provided, so use your own judgment about what each procedure needs. They must be clean and disinfected, though sterilization is not required on a manikin. Read the host site’s Site Info Sheet for supplies, PPE, equipment and rental, and join the Q&A Session ADEX offers before the exam.

The 100 points split into calculus detection (16, on 4 surfaces of 4 assigned maxillary teeth), calculus removal (66 for 12 key surfaces, plus 6 for complete removal in the assigned mandibular quadrant) and probing depths (12, on two teeth, with 1 mm leeway). Tissue damage is penalised: four or more minor sites, or one major site, is an automatic fail. An unreported broken instrument tip counts as major damage.

You treat tooth #8 (access, canal preparation and obturation) and tooth #14 (access and canal identification), in any order, with a separate dam for each. Holes may be punched in advance, but the dam goes on only after the exam starts. On #8 use pink or colored gutta-percha, irrigate with water only (other irrigants may make the result ungradable and require a retake), and clamp only adjacent teeth, not treated ones.

You prepare a ceramic crown on #9 and zirconia crowns on #5 and #3, which are the two abutments of a 3-unit bridge, so they must share a common line of draw. Taper greater than 16 degrees is critically deficient. Make your putty matrices during setup with the matrix former ADEX provides. Occlusal equilibration is prohibited, and digital scanning is not allowed.

You get one radiograph per procedure and must diagnose and record a treatment plan before you may start. A rubber dam is required for every procedure, with at least one tooth either side under it and an unobstructed view of the whole preparation. The preparation must be graded before you begin the restoration, and the composite is presented without surface glaze or sealer. Amalgam is not an option.

ADEX defines simulated caries as material a sharp explorer can penetrate with light pressure, showing “tug-back”. Your job is to remove it completely within the acceptable dimensions. If you truly need to go beyond them, that is a Modification Request, which you should only submit when the conditions in the scenario above are met.

Stop and report a wrong tooth, report a contaminated instrument, and use the digital worksheet and tablet properly: the worksheet is only your draft, and you are responsible for checking every entry before you submit it. Unprofessional attitude towards examiners or staff, and poor simulated-patient management, are penalised too.

Bring a physical photo ID (digital IDs are not valid). Keep your photo badge label on your outermost garment and label your forms and arches with your candidate ID. Wear a mask, gloves, scrubs, closed-toe shoes and protective eyewear or loupes with side shields. Phones, smartwatches and cameras are prohibited and photography means immediate dismissal. Dental assistants are not allowed. Never remove typodont arches until an examiner tells you to.

There is a 10-day wait after a failure before you can re-attempt that part. Fail one procedure in Endodontic or Prosthodontic and you retake all procedures in that part, while the two Restorative exams are retaken separately. Three failures of the same part restarts the whole series, and everything must be passed within 18 months of your first attempt.