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I’m a third year dental student and passed the INBDE on March 17–18, 2026. I studied for about two months while balancing clinic, averaging around 3–4 hours a day after clinic.
Resources
Exam vs Practice
What Helped Most
Exam Day
Final Tips
Resources
- I mainly used Booster for content and both Booster and Bootcamp for questions. I used:
- Booster cheat sheets and study notes
- Booster and Bootcamp question banks + mock exams
- I made a topic-based schedule and focused on finishing certain topics each week. My approach was:
- Review cheat sheets → do questions → review explanations
- Questions were the most important part of my studying. I made sure to review not just the correct answer, but also why the other choices were wrong.
- I started with topic-based questions, then later did a second pass using random sets from missed and bookmarked questions.
Exam vs Practice
- The real exam felt very similar to Booster and a bit harder than Bootcamp. The case sets were especially similar in style.
- For me, pharm, prosth, and oral medicine were high yield. Most of the dental topics were evenly distributed and Booster covered everything I saw. Occlusion and genetics barely showed up for me.
What Helped Most
- Staying consistent after clinic every day
- Deeply reviewing explanations for every question
- Using both Bootcamp and Booster helped, but honestly Booster alone would likely be enough.
Exam Day
- I slept early, woke up about 2.5 hours before, and kept food light (just nuts, granola, and a banana). I took short breaks instead of the full time.
- For questions, I avoided over-flagging and trusted my gut. I only flagged questions I truly wanted to revisit.
Final Tips
- Do as many questions as possible, this is the best way to learn the content
- Read every explanation carefully, there are many questions that ask “which is NOT…”
