Photo Credit - Dr Afrah Misbah
What You Lack In Talent Can Be Made Up With Desire, Hustle And Giving 110% All The Time.” – Don Zimmer
The Dental Aptitude Test (DAT) Program is conducted by the Canadian Dental Association (CDA) to help students assess their aptitude for a career in dentistry and to assist dental schools in selecting first-year students for the DDS/DMD programme.
The complete DAT consists of 4 components for the English test
1. Survey of Natural Sciences -consists of 40 Biology and 30 General Chemistry questions.
2. Perceptual Ability Test -is comprised of six subtests -(90 questions in 60 mins)
Apertures
View recognition
Angle discrimination
Paper folding
Cube counting
3D form development
3. Reading Comprehension Test -Consists of 3 reading passages. Ability to read, organize, analyze and remember new information in dental and basic sciences. (50 questions in 50 mins)
4. Manual Dexterity Test (MAT) - Carving a specified model out of a cylindrical bar of soap specially made for the DAT.(30 mins)
The testing program is designed to evaluate general academic ability, comprehension of scientific information, two- and three-dimensional visual perception and manual dexterity.
Examinations are held twice a year, in November and February, at various test centres, applicants are advised to register as early as possible for their preferred test location and date for the DAT and well in advance of the registration deadline.
During registration, indicate all of the dental schools you would like to have your DAT scores sent to. Up to 5 official transcripts of your DAT scores are included in the DAT registration fee (and one personal copy)
Examinations require approximately 5 hours
Registration fees for upcoming test periods:
DAT – written test portion:$295
DAT – Manual Dexterity Test (MDT) portion:$70
Preparation Kit -$75.00
Soap Six-Pack -$40.00
DAT Preparation Manual -$30.00
There is no limit on the number of times you can write the DAT. However, only the results of the most recent DAT written, along with the total number of times written, will be reported on the official DAT transcript.
Applications are accepted online only.