How much does it cost to take the WREB?

[ubsdm2012]

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I will be taking the WREB this year and am trying to balance my budget for the year. Would anyone who has taken the WREB care to give me a general breakdown of the costs and final total? I've heard wide ranges depending on paying patients, assistants, general exam cost, etc. Thanks.

 

[mamelons]

It was around $2100 for the fee just to take the exam. I bought my endo typodont new with additional sextants and fixing gel, so add on about $275 to that. I did not have to pay my patients, but I got each one a $25 gift card to a restaurant for their time, so another $75. I also bought pre-tapered gutta percha for $25 or so from size 15 to 80. And then I paid my assistant like $650. Most people do not spend as much on an assistant, but they spent more on buying instruments for the exam- new explorers, scalers, curettes, etc. Some people bought new matrix systems for the posterior composite. And then some people didn't buy new instruments or spend that much on an assistant or anything like that. It all depends on your preference and budget. For me personally, I wanted to maximize my chances for success the first time so I didn't have to take it again. And it worked in my favor.

One more thing too... depending on what school you are taking the exam at, there were a couple that tacked on additional fees for the exam just because of what school it was at. I don't remember what those were though. You might be able to go to wreb.org (I think) and they might already have some of the information up for the spring. I don't know though.

 

[ubsdm2012]

Yikes. Thanks for the reply and the explanation the separate costs. That was more $ than I expected but it does make sense to maximize your chances to pass in one try.

 

[wisdomteeth]

Budget at least 5k for WREB. Besides the exam, new instruments, pay the best assistant you can find. You might need to provide transportation and hotel for your patients. Actually you better do that, if they have their own transportation they might run off. If you are their transportation, they are not going anywhere. Get your whole family involve on this, driving patients, getting food for them, make sure they are comfortable, I even had friends came to watch them for me, talk to them, keeping them company so they don't get bore and decide they don't want to be my patient anymore. Of course you have to offer them $$$ too. That's how I spend my 5K.

 

[mamelons]

Budget at least 5k for WREB. Besides the exam, new instruments, pay the best assistant you can find. You might need to provide transportation and hotel for your patients. Actually you better do that, if they have their own transportation they might run off. If you are their transportation, they are not going anywhere. Get your whole family involve on this, driving patients, getting food for them, make sure they are comfortable, I even had friends came to watch them for me, talk to them, keeping them company so they don't get bore and decide they don't want to be my patient anymore. Of course you have to offer them $$$ too. That's how I spend my 5K.

I forgot about providing lunch-- I made sack lunches for all my patients. It keeps them happy while they are waiting around. Fortunately, all my WREB patients had actually been patients I had treated in the clinic already and they had a nice trend of showing up on time to appointments. I was fortunate in that free dental care was enough of an incentive to get my patients to show up, but that is not the case for everyone. If you are taking WREB out of state or out of the area, I would highly consider paying for any transportation, hotels, meals, etc.