The science section of the dental admission test includes 40 questions in biological sciences, 30 general chemistry questions and 30 in organic chemistry. The perceptual ability section includes 90 questions, reading comprehension has 50 questions and there are 40 questions in the quantitative reasoning section. The exam taker is given 90 minutes in the sciences, an hour in perceptual ability, 45 in quantitative reasoning and an hour in reading comprehension, which makes the total test time about four hours.
Since scoring well on the dental admission test will increase your chances of being accepted to dental school, it is important to be well-prepared for the exam. Different testing companies such as Kaplan's offer courses to better prepare you for this exam. Many of them also manufacture specialized test preparation books to aid in preparing for the exam. Two such books include "The Kaplan DAT book" by Kaplan in May 2010 and "Barron's DAT book" from 2011. The Internet can also be a good source for talking with others who have already taken the exam. Often they can give advice as to which information was useful. There are also websites devoted to helping students prepare for the exam. Predents.com offers useful information of DAT scores for specific schools.
According to Dental Student Books, the average score for the entire exam among all dental admission test takers is a composite of 17. This is usually not sufficient for entrance into a dental school, as the program admissions is quite competitive. Most dental schools accept applicants within the 18 to 19 range or above as of March 2011, according to ADEA.org. The perceptual ability test is sometimes looked at as a separate score due to its ability to predict a person's spatial visualization skills, which are important in the field of dentistry. The average score for admitted students on this part of the test is also around a 19.
The dental admission test score is not the only factor that contributes to gaining acceptance to dental school. Grade point average, volunteering, showing an interest in dentistry, higher level science courses and having artistic ability all contribute as well. Someone may score slightly lower than average on the dental admission test yet still be admitted due to a strong interest in the profession. It is important to set yourself apart from all other applicants in a positive way. Also, although the average admittance score is around 19, there is a range among differing schools. This information can be found under the Resources link.