Anonymous 1210
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I passed the INBDE!
I’m a current D3 and took my exam on March 13 and 16 2026. I studied for 2 months (beginning of January to middle of March). I would study for 10 hours a day on weekends and 5 hours a day on weekdays after clinic. It took me the full 4 weeks to get my results back. I used multiple resource but here are the primary ones
1. Booster videos (all of them)- my foundation
2. Booster Anki
3. Booster cheat sheets
4. Booster practice questions + mock exams
5. Bootcamp practice questions
6. Bootcamp cheat sheets
Typical Study Day:
1. 1-3 hours doing Anki on all subjects
2. 2-3 hours doing a focused review on a select section of topics (e.g. perio in fields of dentistry)
3. Repeat 2 X 3 times depending on time during the day
Test Prep:
I did the full set of mock exams twice, once a month in to gauge my understanding and once two weeks before the exam as a final prep. The night before, I only reviewed topics I was super unsure of that were high yield + leftover Anki. I made sure to get 8 hours of sleep (ate melatonin gummies to make sure it was decent sleep quality).
Day Of:
I got up 2-3 hours early as last minute studying and reviewed cheat sheets only. I made sure to pack ample snacks and water and headed to the test center.
Test:
I would say I saw around 20-25% of very similar/almost exact questions from Booster practice questions and mock exams. Most questions fit into the general concepts covered in Booster, but there were a few random ones that no amount of studying could have prepared me for. I’m guessing these may be some of the 10% experimental questions on the INBDE.
One thing that caught me off guard is that the FMX X-rays on the actual INBDE exam are NOT of diagnostic quality. They were incredibly difficult to zoom in on, and one question asked about which endo tooth (multiple with PARLs) needed a retreatment, so I ended up guessing.
Tips:
Make sure to study high yield topics, and have confidence! I was pretty sure I failed the exam, but I ended up passing. You got this!
I’m a current D3 and took my exam on March 13 and 16 2026. I studied for 2 months (beginning of January to middle of March). I would study for 10 hours a day on weekends and 5 hours a day on weekdays after clinic. It took me the full 4 weeks to get my results back. I used multiple resource but here are the primary ones
1. Booster videos (all of them)- my foundation
2. Booster Anki
3. Booster cheat sheets
4. Booster practice questions + mock exams
5. Bootcamp practice questions
6. Bootcamp cheat sheets
Typical Study Day:
1. 1-3 hours doing Anki on all subjects
2. 2-3 hours doing a focused review on a select section of topics (e.g. perio in fields of dentistry)
3. Repeat 2 X 3 times depending on time during the day
Test Prep:
I did the full set of mock exams twice, once a month in to gauge my understanding and once two weeks before the exam as a final prep. The night before, I only reviewed topics I was super unsure of that were high yield + leftover Anki. I made sure to get 8 hours of sleep (ate melatonin gummies to make sure it was decent sleep quality).
Day Of:
I got up 2-3 hours early as last minute studying and reviewed cheat sheets only. I made sure to pack ample snacks and water and headed to the test center.
Test:
I would say I saw around 20-25% of very similar/almost exact questions from Booster practice questions and mock exams. Most questions fit into the general concepts covered in Booster, but there were a few random ones that no amount of studying could have prepared me for. I’m guessing these may be some of the 10% experimental questions on the INBDE.
One thing that caught me off guard is that the FMX X-rays on the actual INBDE exam are NOT of diagnostic quality. They were incredibly difficult to zoom in on, and one question asked about which endo tooth (multiple with PARLs) needed a retreatment, so I ended up guessing.
Tips:
Make sure to study high yield topics, and have confidence! I was pretty sure I failed the exam, but I ended up passing. You got this!
