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I didn’t get any answers to my question about Manikin WREB so I thought I would write a post to help anyone out taking WREB soon.
I had previously attempted CRDTS back in 2018 when I left dental school. I failed the Prosth and Endo section once, and then operative section 2 times). It was a horrible experience and I overall thought the exam and everything about it just sucked (for me).
I started residency in 2020 (I have a whole post on why and my struggle with NBDE 2) and the school I attend hosts WREB. I had heard from NUMEROUS people that WREB is a much more practical exam, the examiners are on your side and want you to pass, it is very candidate friendly, and there are onsite retakes included in the fee you pay!
I decided to take WREB even if I needed to travel for it (which I ended up doing because the school I attend decided to switch to ADEX). I also decided to only take manikin as the state I plan to get licensed with are okay with an all manikin exam from virtually any agency.
I’ll list some pointers of my experience leading up to the exam and the exam itself.
Leading up to the exam, I practiced like hell on manikin teeth for a month.
CTP wasn’t too bad at all. As long as you do clinical cases and treatment plan this section is easy. Just make sure you know how to calculate dosing for meds and anesthetics. Also be aware of any allergies a patient may have. Basically do not make a fatal error and you’ll be okay! I used this resource and found it super helpful. Home - WREB CTP Review & Guide
The exams:
CTP - I took the exam a few months before my clinical portions. Was roughly a 3.5-4 hour exam, I cannot remember exactly. It was 3 cases. 2 adult, 1 pediatric. Basically you get the Med and dental history, radiographs, clinical pictures. On the next page is a free for all text box and you stage out the treatment plan how you want. Make sure you are confident on this, because when you hit next, you cannot change anything. After you submit the treatment plan, there are 6-8 questions about the case. I thought all the cases are doable and the questions too, but the radiograph quality isn’t the best.
Day 1 -
Prosth - honestly very straight forward. You get an arch. Prep the teeth how you want (9, 5, 3 with 3 and 5 needing bridge factor) You specify on the sheet of paper they give you what material you want to prep for. I did FCC for both since I tend to overreduce. #9 as you know needs to be ACC. They also did provide the blue putty matrix form thing.
Operative - this section was very unique. So you get the arch with the 2 teeth (9DL, 14MO), and preoperative radiographs. You can prep both teeth at once, after your start check. The caries were NOT black, but they were a darker color and some of it was not even a different color. Tactile sense was VERY important for this section. I asked for a lot of mods because my class 2 ended up breaking through the transverse ridge. My class 3 was also relatively big. Tbh I thought operative was the hardest section. I will say, the examiner who was approving mod checks was AMAZING. He was very helpful and would let me know if a mod request didn’t sound right or needed more clarification. When you are done prepping, you turn that arch in, and you get a preprepped arch of the same 2 teeth. Just restore back, and then submit. I was told by the floor examiner that occlusion is not checked. He stated as long as it’s not grossly high, you will pass.
Day 2 -
Periodontics - I was assigned LL arch on the day of the exam. You do not probe, you just scale the whole quadrant. The calculus was not black, rather a dark yellow. Tbh it was hard to tactically feel for the calculus. I was able to slightly pull the gingiva to see where the calculus was located. I used both hand instruments and also a Cavitron (on very low power). It worked well. I just kept going back and forth with explorer, hand instruments, cavitron until I was confident I was done.
Endo - Very straightforward. I finished the access #30 in 20 minutes. Because I was so far ahead on time, I was able to take all the radiographs I wanted for #9 (WL multiple times, MAF, MACone.) I think my WL was 23.5. I hand filed everything. I was able to get to a 50 MAF about .7 from apex. I did see some people use rotary. I just had heard teeth can crack and fracture if you are not careful with rotary. I also think the examiners only use the radiographs to grade (do not quote me on that, but I have heard this.)
I got my Prosth score the same night. I did not get operative till the next day with Perio and Endo. I was lucky enough to pass it all! Overall, not only was the manikin exam ethical, it was comparable to a live patient exam with the caries and calculus. I really hope live patient exams drop soon. It’s time.
And as for WREB itself, I couldn’t be happier with my experience! Yes I may be an unfair comparison because I took CRDTS half patient, half manikin, while WREB was all manikin, but I still think overall the exam was just more relaxed and the examiners are just very kind.
I had previously attempted CRDTS back in 2018 when I left dental school. I failed the Prosth and Endo section once, and then operative section 2 times). It was a horrible experience and I overall thought the exam and everything about it just sucked (for me).
I started residency in 2020 (I have a whole post on why and my struggle with NBDE 2) and the school I attend hosts WREB. I had heard from NUMEROUS people that WREB is a much more practical exam, the examiners are on your side and want you to pass, it is very candidate friendly, and there are onsite retakes included in the fee you pay!
I decided to take WREB even if I needed to travel for it (which I ended up doing because the school I attend decided to switch to ADEX). I also decided to only take manikin as the state I plan to get licensed with are okay with an all manikin exam from virtually any agency.
I’ll list some pointers of my experience leading up to the exam and the exam itself.
Leading up to the exam, I practiced like hell on manikin teeth for a month.
- I ended up buying about 6 each of the X2 Endo teeth, practice those every few days. Did it doing the whole deal, practiced with radiographs too. I found WL to be between 23.5-24 on the teeth I practiced on and went to a 45 or 50 MAF and used a 45 or 50 GP. Always used hand files, I was not comfortable with rotary.
- For operative, I decided to perfect my form on regular teeth, then I invested in the RTX teeth. Those teeth were $28-33 a piece (!!!) And were constantly out of stock when I wanted to order them. I ended up spending A LOT of money on these RTX teeth. They have a black spot when you open the tooth up, and the spot of caries is “soft” but the dentin surrounding it can be soft too, so tactile senses are needed to fully diagnose and remove. Definitely need to use diamond burs to prep these teeth, this is key. Stevenson Solution has the Compodont Teeth Prep kit, I’ll link it here (Licensure Caries Teeth Operative Bur Set (6 Burs) | Stevenson Dental Solutions) and I made my own bur block buying those burs individually.
- Prosth I think I practiced the crown preps every single day starting Feb 1. Well almost every single day (I did miss a few days here and there) and even went in on weekends. I always did practice making the putty matrix because I heard sometimes the nerves can get to you the day of and sometimes people just tend to mess up the sectioning! So just practice that before hand.
- Perio was unique because Acadental decided to sell a hygiene arch with simulated calculus sometime in Feb (at least that is when I noticed.) I decided to drop another 150$ just to get the hygiene arch. Only practiced hygiene 2 times. And I practiced maxilla SRP. The exam was mandibular... so just make a note of that haha. I didn’t realize this until the day of the exam
CTP wasn’t too bad at all. As long as you do clinical cases and treatment plan this section is easy. Just make sure you know how to calculate dosing for meds and anesthetics. Also be aware of any allergies a patient may have. Basically do not make a fatal error and you’ll be okay! I used this resource and found it super helpful. Home - WREB CTP Review & Guide
The exams:
CTP - I took the exam a few months before my clinical portions. Was roughly a 3.5-4 hour exam, I cannot remember exactly. It was 3 cases. 2 adult, 1 pediatric. Basically you get the Med and dental history, radiographs, clinical pictures. On the next page is a free for all text box and you stage out the treatment plan how you want. Make sure you are confident on this, because when you hit next, you cannot change anything. After you submit the treatment plan, there are 6-8 questions about the case. I thought all the cases are doable and the questions too, but the radiograph quality isn’t the best.
Day 1 -
Prosth - honestly very straight forward. You get an arch. Prep the teeth how you want (9, 5, 3 with 3 and 5 needing bridge factor) You specify on the sheet of paper they give you what material you want to prep for. I did FCC for both since I tend to overreduce. #9 as you know needs to be ACC. They also did provide the blue putty matrix form thing.
Operative - this section was very unique. So you get the arch with the 2 teeth (9DL, 14MO), and preoperative radiographs. You can prep both teeth at once, after your start check. The caries were NOT black, but they were a darker color and some of it was not even a different color. Tactile sense was VERY important for this section. I asked for a lot of mods because my class 2 ended up breaking through the transverse ridge. My class 3 was also relatively big. Tbh I thought operative was the hardest section. I will say, the examiner who was approving mod checks was AMAZING. He was very helpful and would let me know if a mod request didn’t sound right or needed more clarification. When you are done prepping, you turn that arch in, and you get a preprepped arch of the same 2 teeth. Just restore back, and then submit. I was told by the floor examiner that occlusion is not checked. He stated as long as it’s not grossly high, you will pass.
Day 2 -
Periodontics - I was assigned LL arch on the day of the exam. You do not probe, you just scale the whole quadrant. The calculus was not black, rather a dark yellow. Tbh it was hard to tactically feel for the calculus. I was able to slightly pull the gingiva to see where the calculus was located. I used both hand instruments and also a Cavitron (on very low power). It worked well. I just kept going back and forth with explorer, hand instruments, cavitron until I was confident I was done.
Endo - Very straightforward. I finished the access #30 in 20 minutes. Because I was so far ahead on time, I was able to take all the radiographs I wanted for #9 (WL multiple times, MAF, MACone.) I think my WL was 23.5. I hand filed everything. I was able to get to a 50 MAF about .7 from apex. I did see some people use rotary. I just had heard teeth can crack and fracture if you are not careful with rotary. I also think the examiners only use the radiographs to grade (do not quote me on that, but I have heard this.)
I got my Prosth score the same night. I did not get operative till the next day with Perio and Endo. I was lucky enough to pass it all! Overall, not only was the manikin exam ethical, it was comparable to a live patient exam with the caries and calculus. I really hope live patient exams drop soon. It’s time.
And as for WREB itself, I couldn’t be happier with my experience! Yes I may be an unfair comparison because I took CRDTS half patient, half manikin, while WREB was all manikin, but I still think overall the exam was just more relaxed and the examiners are just very kind.
