Pre-Dental

Dentists are highly sophisticated health professionals who provide a wide range of oral health care that contributes to the general health and quality of their patients' lives. Below, learn more about the classes and the national exam you need to prepare for dental school. In the useful links section, learn more about the dental schools, as well as other general information about dentistry.

What is the national standardized test?

The Dental Admission Test (DAT) is required for admission to dental school. The best way to prepare for the DAT is to do well academically in the pre-requisite courses before studying for the DAT. The DAT comprises a survey of the natural sciences (Biology, General Chemistry, & Organic Chemistry), Perceptual Ability, Reading Comprehension, and Quantitative Reasoning. To be more familiar with the DAT exam, please read and understand the DAT Guide, published each year, on the DAT URL. 

What is the Clinical Competency expectation? 

All dental schools expect that you have spent time shadowing multiple dentists. You may shadow specialists if you’d like, but you must shadow general dentists. The reason is that dental schools train you to be a general dentist. Also, shadow dentists who work with different types of populations!
 

Certain schools require a minimum number of shadowing hours, so check the requirements of the dental schools you are interested in. All dental experience must be in the U.S. Remember to document your hours! 

Dental experience is about learning and having depth of experience in the following areas: 

• Dental professional exposure
• Patient interaction
• Inter-professional experience (IPE)
     IPE: learning or working with people from different professions or disciplines to improve patient care or community health 
   

What else should I know?

You must learn and incorporate the Association of American Medical Colleges Core Competencies for Entering Medical Students in your prerequisite coursework and extracurricular activities. For example, dental schools value community service because a student can gain many professional skills such as leadership, cultural humility and sensitivity, as well as adaptability and reliability.

Community Service

• Dental schools expect you to actively participate in community service (unpaid) 
• You need to show the dental schools that you have long-term and deep commitment to serving the community/population(s) you are passionate about
  • Think about community service activities that you can do continuously throughout your college years and beyond, not just a single service day or event
  • Community service is important to dental schools because dentists are seen as leaders in their communities.
• Document your hours!

Other information, such as what you should major in or how to handle repeats or withdrawals at UM-Dearborn, can be found in our FAQ section.