NBDE-2 Score thread and Experience.....

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Hi Guys,
Why don't we start NBDE-2 score thread and the experience associated with the exam. Please feel free to jolt down your total part-2 preperation schedule and books used for the success , and share with everybody.
Thanks.👍
 
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For those that didn't see when I posted this. Here is my NBDE experience: I took the exam on November 5 and 6th. Also took DSE exam on November 7th so I'll include that too below.

I studied for 3 weeks hardcore, using Mosby just for Patient Management and Decks for everything else (I referenced some stuff from Mosby for other sections though). I did all the ASDA release questions I could get my hands on as well as Kaplan Q Bank online. I think that my combination worked for me.

Part II - So I was extremely nervous when I got to the exam and didnt know what to expect. The first section was straight forward, some really simple questions and some that were in between and a few WTF questions. I felt great when I finished the first section. I mean, confident! But the 2nd section after the break was really tough!!! The hard questions kept coming and the easy questions were few. Plus you will get BURNED out!!! It's a lot of questions so practice a lot before taking it. Practice sitting down and doing 200 or more questions without break.
Overall the exam was fair, I felt like they were not trying to trick you, basically making sure that we know what we should as dentists. The hardest questions to me were the dental materials questions. I hated this topic and didnt know to review it. But good thing is those questions were few.

Day 2 was case based. This day was not as bad as the first day for me since it was only 100 questions lol. But the topics were the same just looking back and forth on pictures, case details, xrays and charts took getting used to. But the questions were straightforward. Practice reading xrays and diagnosing basically.

Break down by Sections:

Pharmacology: Just the basics, Tufts Pharmacology and ASDA release questions will be sufficient, no need to go back and read your class notes on this lol. SERIOUSLY. Very basic and obvious answers for the most part.

Pathology: Just doing the asda released questions and reading decks should suffice if you had a good background in Path. Key stuff to know ectodermal dysplasia, dentinogenesis imperfecta, amelogenesis imperfecta, cleidocranial dysplasia, leukoplakia, candidiasis, lichen planus, dentigerous cyst, okc, basal cell carcinoma, Odontoma etc. Just the most common stuff that you would expect.

Pedo - I didnt get much pedo questions on my exam but you may not be so lucky. Just review calcification, flouride supplement, eruption and space maintainers. Also cerebral palsy etc

Endo - Endo was heavily tested lol .Seems like every other question was either asking about how to diagnose an endodontically involved tooth or how to tx it. SO make sure you are well versed in these areas and can recognize endo lesions on xrays. Release ASDA papers and your class knowledge should be enough.


Radiology - Very few radiology was asked for me. Basically know how to recognize anatomic structures on a radiograph. Also know about kvp and MA and how they affect radiographs. Know what kind of errors can occur with radiographs and how to identify them if given. Decks is good for radiology as well . Also I recommend googling around and looking at all the images you can find. That will help a great deal!!

Restorative -Decks all the way, these questions were the toughest for me because its my least favorite part of dentistry lol. Just use decks and all the old questions you can get your hand on and going over mosby is not bad for this section either.

Ortho - Very very very little ortho was asked. Decks and Mosby are overkill for ortho. If you payed attention in class you should be fine. If not then make sure to solve all ortho questions in ASDA papers. Also decks was extremely good but overkill. Know all the ceph stuff and space maintainers ofcourse.

Oral Surgery - This section was not very thorough at all. Just the basics as well. Anesthesia dose, notrous, contraindications, indications etc. Also impactions a little bit. Don't know what helped better but Mosby was pretty good for this section for my exam. Know about medical conditions and how to manage them hypertension, diabetes etc. Know about stuff like dry socket and general oral surgery post op complications.

Now for the final and most important section lol PATIENT MANAGEMENT! - MOSBY MOSBY MOSBY seriously! This section was heavily tested. I cant stress it enough. Know it cold!!!! All the stuff about insurance and sterilization etc!!

DSE (NERB written exam) - Is basically a mini version of NBDE Part 2 but a whole lot more pictures and cases!!! Perio is heavily tested on this so brush up on your perio! hha. Seriously! Best source for DSE, I don't really know, a little of everything I would say. For me DSE had easier questions that PART 2 but was more difficult because of all the cases and pictures and diagnosing you had to do!

Forgive my typos, I am really really tired. Don't know if I left anything off but that's all I have.
Anyways, good luck everyone. I got my results already and thank goodness I passed both exams. Just study hard and do LOTS OF QUESTIONS!!!! I also have a lot of boards and DSE stuff if anyone is interested shoot me a PM. Study HARD!!!
 
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OMFS08 said:
For those that didn't see when I posted this. Here is my NBDE experience: I took the exam on November 5 and 6th. Also took DSE exam on November 7th so I'll include that too below.

I studied for 3 weeks hardcore, using Mosby just for Patient Management and Decks for everything else (I referenced some stuff from Mosby for other sections though). I did all the ASDA release questions I could get my hands on as well as Kaplan Q Bank online. I think that my combination worked for me.

Part II - So I was extremely nervous when I got to the exam and didnt know what to expect. The first section was straight forward, some really simple questions and some that were in between and a few WTF questions. I felt great when I finished the first section. I mean, confident! But the 2nd section after the break was really tough!!! The hard questions kept coming and the easy questions were few. Plus you will get BURNED out!!! It's a lot of questions so practice a lot before taking it. Practice sitting down and doing 200 or more questions without break.
Overall the exam was fair, I felt like they were not trying to trick you, basically making sure that we know what we should as dentists. The hardest questions to me were the dental materials questions. I hated this topic and didnt know to review it. But good thing is those questions were few.

Day 2 was case based. This day was not as bad as the first day for me since it was only 100 questions lol. But the topics were the same just looking back and forth on pictures, case details, xrays and charts took getting used to. But the questions were straightforward. Practice reading xrays and diagnosing basically.

Break down by Sections:

Pharmacology: Just the basics, Tufts Pharmacology and ASDA release questions will be sufficient, no need to go back and read your class notes on this lol. SERIOUSLY. Very basic and obvious answers for the most part.

Pathology: Just doing the asda released questions and reading decks should suffice if you had a good background in Path. Key stuff to know ectodermal dysplasia, dentinogenesis imperfecta, amelogenesis imperfecta, cleidocranial dysplasia, leukoplakia, candidiasis, lichen planus, dentigerous cyst, okc, basal cell carcinoma, Odontoma etc. Just the most common stuff that you would expect.

Pedo - I didnt get much pedo questions on my exam but you may not be so lucky. Just review calcification, flouride supplement, eruption and space maintainers. Also cerebral palsy etc

Endo - Endo was heavily tested lol .Seems like every other question was either asking about how to diagnose an endodontically involved tooth or how to tx it. SO make sure you are well versed in these areas and can recognize endo lesions on xrays. Release ASDA papers and your class knowledge should be enough.


Radiology - Very few radiology was asked for me. Basically know how to recognize anatomic structures on a radiograph. Also know about kvp and MA and how they affect radiographs. Know what kind of errors can occur with radiographs and how to identify them if given. Decks is good for radiology as well . Also I recommend googling around and looking at all the images you can find. That will help a great deal!!

Restorative -Decks all the way, these questions were the toughest for me because its my least favorite part of dentistry lol. Just use decks and all the old questions you can get your hand on and going over mosby is not bad for this section either.

Ortho - Very very very little ortho was asked. Decks and Mosby are overkill for ortho. If you payed attention in class you should be fine. If not then make sure to solve all ortho questions in ASDA papers. Also decks was extremely good but overkill. Know all the ceph stuff and space maintainers ofcourse.

Oral Surgery - This section was not very thorough at all. Just the basics as well. Anesthesia dose, notrous, contraindications, indications etc. Also impactions a little bit. Don't know what helped better but Mosby was pretty good for this section for my exam. Know about medical conditions and how to manage them hypertension, diabetes etc. Know about stuff like dry socket and general oral surgery post op complications.

Now for the final and most important section lol PATIENT MANAGEMENT! - MOSBY MOSBY MOSBY seriously! This section was heavily tested. I cant stress it enough. Know it cold!!!! All the stuff about insurance and sterilization etc!!

DSE (NERB written exam) - Is basically a mini version of NBDE Part 2 but a whole lot more pictures and cases!!! Perio is heavily tested on this so brush up on your perio! hha. Seriously! Best source for DSE, I don't really know, a little of everything I would say. For me DSE had easier questions that PART 2 but was more difficult because of all the cases and pictures and diagnosing you had to do!

Forgive my typos, I am really really tired. Don't know if I left anything off but that's all I have.
Anyways, good luck everyone. I got my results already and thank goodness I passed both exams. Just study hard and do LOTS OF QUESTIONS!!!! I also have a lot of boards and DSE stuff if anyone is interested shoot me a PM. Study HARD!!!
Click to expand...

Thank you for sharing your experience.
I would appreciate your effort in writing your exam experience in detail. 🙂
 
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For all those who cleared the part2. i would appreciate if you tell me how long of a preparation does this test demand. I know it completely depends on a persons ability to learn facts and graspin power but i am just asking a general approximate time that you guys took to prepare for the test.
 
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hey guys,
I heard that the kaplan q bank is really helpful for the part 2?? is that true.. its $100 for a month.. is it really worth spending money on? and does it contain the patient management case based questions?
 
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Finally after 5 weeks of agonizing wait...by the grace of Allah I recieved my result today and I PASSED!!!!!.

As promised this is what I followed and felt worked. Firstly I want you all to know not to get disheartened- I am a foreign grad who graduated 6 years ago and went through a very tough time these past few years. So if I can do it so can all of you. Its just determination, persistence and FOCUS!

I studied for 3 months hard core like there was no tomorrow. Try to study atleast 8 to 10 hours a day at least. I basically studied from Board Busters (Replica of 2008 decks) ASDA papers just did 5 or 6 sets only twice...Please GOOGLE whatever you have doubt on from the ASDA papers and do your own research online on topics as believe me I learnt the MOST through Wikipedia and google search!!! There was NO way that I would have passed this exam without using google search as alot of questions which came in my exam was from the stuff I came across while searching for something else on google! There were around 20 to 25 repeats from past papers. There are some wrong answers in the solved ASDA so please google to make sure on the ones you have your doubt on.

The exam is from all over the place and do not underestimate it! questions can come from anywhere. I did not get alot of prostho in my exam thank God as I did not do it in too much depth and find it very boring.There is VERY little time and I just got to 197 questions when my time finished in the first half! Please pace yourself and DO not take any unscheduled breaks even if your life depends on it or u will run short on time.

MOSBY : went through it once and did ALL the questions at the back of Mosby....Mosby is an excellent book for some topics missing in Board buster and decks and I think the NBDE people like using it for their questions.

In prostho there were clinical pictures of Partial dentures asking which part of the prosthesis will be ommitted for it to be the correct design. very confusing when u have 1minute to decide.
 
Last edited:
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fefzie said:
Finally after 5 weeks of agonizing wait...by the grace of Allah I recieved my result today and I PASSED!!!!!.

As promised this is what I followed and felt worked. Firstly I want you all to know not to get disheartened- I am a foreign grad who graduated 6 years ago and went through a very tough time these past few years. So if I can do it so can all of you. Its just determination, persistence and FOCUS!

I studied for 3 months hard core like there was no tomorrow. Try to study atleast 8 to 10 hours a day at least. I basically studied from Board Busters (Replica of 2008 decks) ASDA papers just did 5 or 6 sets only twice...Please GOOGLE whatever you have doubt on from the ASDA papers and do your own research online on topics as believe me I learnt the MOST through Wikipedia and google search!!! There was NO way that I would have passed this exam without using google search as alot of questions which came in my exam was from the stuff I came across while searching for something else on google! There were around 20 to 25 repeats from past papers. There are some wrong answers in the solved ASDA so please google to make sure on the ones you have your doubt on.

The exam is from all over the place and do not underestimate it! questions can come from anywhere. I did not get alot of prostho in my exam thank God as I did not do it in too much depth and find it very boring.There is VERY little time and I just got to 197 questions when my time finished in the first half! Please pace yourself and DO not take any unscheduled breaks even if your life depends on it or u will run short on time.

MOSBY : went through it once and did ALL the questions at the back of Mosby....Mosby is an excellent book for some topics missing in Board buster and decks and I think the NBDE people like using it for their questions.

In prostho there were clinical pictures of Partial dentures asking which part of the prosthesis will be ommitted for it to be the correct design. very confusing when u have 1minute to decide.
Click to expand...
Gooooood luck,,, I am going to take the test by the end of Jan and really afraid of it. I have the ASDA test packets II K, L, and M.. Do you have other than those?
 
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Meghil said:
Gooooood luck,,, I am going to take the test by the end of Jan and really afraid of it. I have the ASDA test packets II K, L, and M.. Do you have other than those?
Click to expand...

hi i need asda test packets L and M...Any help on how i can procure them?
 
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I have a question about scoring. I was told that the second day will be scored separately and have a different effect on people pass/fail status..I want to know that ADA will consider the entire 500 questions for the final decision? seniors please help
 
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drmajesty said:
I have a question about scoring. I was told that the second day will be scored separately and have a different effect on people pass/fail status..I want to know that ADA will consider the entire 500 questions for the final decision? seniors please help
Click to expand...



where did you hear that from? i think it is all taken into account together from reading posts regarding scores in previous years..the individual breakdowns per subject used to include the case-based questions...for example, if there was 30 questions out of 40 questions correct for endo, those 40 questions included both day 1 and 2 endo questions.
 
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also, has anyone taken this exam recently and not passed? i know they only give pass/fail on the new test results now but if you fail they tell you how many questions you had right or wrong. if someone has failed and wouldnt mind sharing how many questions they got out of 500, that would be helpful in determining how many questions we need right to pass.

i have been searching around from old years when a score was reported and it seems that 350/500 right allowed peoole to pass. does this seem accurate?
 
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dentgirl20313 said:
also, has anyone taken this exam recently and not passed? i know they only give pass/fail on the new test results now but if you fail they tell you how many questions you had right or wrong. if someone has failed and wouldnt mind sharing how many questions they got out of 500, that would be helpful in determining how many questions we need right to pass.

i have been searching around from old years when a score was reported and it seems that 350/500 right allowed peoole to pass. does this seem accurate?
Click to expand...

Yeah u r right, it depends on the hardness of exam. sometimes minimum score of 330 is acceptable for pass as I saw on old threads.but 350/500 is the safe zone!!!

regarding day 2 ,one of my friends told me that a minimum score is required for case questions to pass the exam. this made me so nervous on that date😡.Although your idea is more logical, I am still worried about what my friend told me
 
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drmajesty said:
Yeah u r right, it depends on the hardness of exam. sometimes minimum score of 330 is acceptable for pass as I saw on old threads.but 350/500 is the safe zone!!!

regarding day 2 ,one of my friends told me that a minimum score is required for case questions to pass the exam. this made me so nervous on that date😡.Although your idea is more logical, I am still worried about what my friend told me
Click to expand...



yes but looking at previous posters - some people only had 60/100 right and with like a 360/500 overall, they still passed.. so i htink even getting 60% of case-based questions right is sufficient
 
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when u read the nbde 2 official guide, they mentioned how many question they will ask.

endo:31 operative: 44 surgery:47 oral pathology: 45

ortho/pedo: 52 management: 51 perio:50 pharma: 31

prostho: 49 total: 400

So that's why my friend told me they consider second day separately
 
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I got my results and passed. I don't want to waste your time guys but believe me it is passable if you read this forum carefully. good luck.
 
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drmajesty said:
I got my results and passed. I don't want to waste your time guys but believe me it is passable if you read this forum carefully. good luck.
Click to expand...

congratulations! what materials you used and for how long did you prepare for the exam?
do you think pharma tufts would be enough ??
thanks in advance
 
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drz7 said:
congratulations! what materials you used and for how long did you prepare for the exam?
do you think pharma tufts would be enough ??
thanks in advance
Click to expand...

I studied decks and recent asda papers. I think decks is more than enough if u read it carefully. I have no idea regarding Tuft
 
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dentgirl20313 said:
yes but looking at previous posters - some people only had 60/100 right and with like a 360/500 overall, they still passed.. so i htink even getting 60% of case-based questions right is sufficient
Click to expand...

I had a 67/100 case base and a 369/500 and I didn't pass. They gave me a 73. in my NBDE Part2.fail. So, do your best to get a good score.
 
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In reality you scored 302 out of 500. You should not count in the case questions into your over all score.
 
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I am hoping this is the right place for this question.

From the nbde part 2 guide, I have seen the below

Three new item types are being introduced on the National Board Dental Examinations. The new item types are multiple correct/multiple response, extended matching, and ordering.
Since these items are considered pretest items they will not be scored. However, they will be evaluated for their statistical performance and will not have an impact on candidate’s results or pass/fail status

Kindly, please reply to my following questions:

On first day of part 2 , are the new item formats [ ordering, matching, multiple response] are included in 400 questions ? or 400+ new item format questions
Approximately how many new item formats [ordering, matching,multiple response] can we expect on the first day ?
Can we expect ordering, matching and multiple response questions on the second day of part 2 ? If how many questions approximately ?
As they are not scored can we leave the questions without answering ?
 
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bostonian80 said:
I am hoping this is the right place for this question.

From the nbde part 2 guide, I have seen the below

Three new item types are being introduced on the National Board Dental Examinations. The new item types are multiple correct/multiple response, extended matching, and ordering.
Since these items are considered pretest items they will not be scored. However, they will be evaluated for their statistical performance and will not have an impact on candidate's results or pass/fail status

Kindly, please reply to my following questions:

On first day of part 2 , are the new item formats [ ordering, matching, multiple response] are included in 400 questions ? or 400+ new item format questions
Approximately how many new item formats [ordering, matching,multiple response] can we expect on the first day ?
Can we expect ordering, matching and multiple response questions on the second day of part 2 ? If how many questions approximately ?
As they are not scored can we leave the questions without answering ?
Click to expand...


If these items are not considered during scoring whats the harm in marking ......there is no negetive score though.
 
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Does anyone know how the scoring is done for nbde part 2? As in do you have to get 375/500 or is it against a mean score?
 
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Hey guys im giving nbde 2 in late july..
Do u think its gona be hard since in summer american students do the exam !! pls reply
 
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DeepikaPoppaw said:
Does anyone know how the scoring is done for nbde part 2? As in do you have to get 375/500 or is it against a mean score?
Click to expand...


Hey guys im taking nbde2 in late july, do u think it will be Tough since american students take it in summer !! or its just not true ??
 
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Gave Nbde2 in late june. Got results a week back.I passed🙂😀..it was a relief. First day was pretty easy. i wished there was no second day...i was sure i was going to fail after the second day and was pleasently shocked to have passed....but i guess u cant really 'study' for the second day.....i had done decks, all asda papers and crack the nbde. for the record...crack is useless! please dont waste ur money on that....
best of luck to all!
 
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luvnluc said:
Gave Nbde2 in late june. Got results a week back.I passed🙂😀..it was a relief. First day was pretty easy. i wished there was no second day...i was sure i was going to fail after the second day and was pleasently shocked to have passed....but i guess u cant really 'study' for the second day.....i had done decks, all asda papers and crack the nbde. for the record...crack is useless! please dont waste ur money on that....
best of luck to all!
Click to expand...
yes and mosby for patient management and tufts for pharmac
 
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I finally pass this exam, I failed a couple of times, but I never gave up on my self, People, never give up, no mater what. My recommendation, read dental deck once or not at all. Know the Mosby from front to back, Tuff Pharmacology review and Tuff Pathology review. they where lots of questions of Patient Management, Oral Pathology and Periodontics. Those how said I couldn't do it, thanks, you pushed me harder to the brink. Now I'm a Board Certified Dentist. I'm so happy.
 
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luvnluc said:
Gave Nbde2 in late june. Got results a week back.I passed🙂😀..it was a relief. First day was pretty easy. i wished there was no second day...i was sure i was going to fail after the second day and was pleasently shocked to have passed....but i guess u cant really 'study' for the second day.....i had done decks, all asda papers and crack the nbde. for the record...crack is useless! please dont waste ur money on that....
best of luck to all!
Click to expand...

Do you still have your asda papers. PLease email me [email protected]
 
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I'm a middle of the class student. studied for 50 days, 4 hours a day, with old questions and decks and passed
 
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Hi everyone. I have a exam in less than 2 weeks and I am freaking out ,feels like I don't know any thing , trying to do old exams and feels like every question is new to me 😡pls help ..what should I do , what should I revise in these few days?thanks
 
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Took Part 2 two weeks ago, go results a week later. IMO, Part 2 is easier than Part 1. The test is heavily biased towards endo and perio. All I used was decks and a few old asda exams.
 
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Hi everyone, I have taken Part 2 in 2007 and would like to retake it to improve my residency opportunities. I heard part 2 score reporting changed. Are the scores still given as individual subject score and percent idles with one cumulative final score? Please let me know.
 
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