If you’ve decided to make dentistry your life-long passion, you need to pass the DAT (Dental Admission Test) before you can even begin to spend the rest of your life with your hands in somebody else’s mouth. But when should you start preparing for the DAT? Should you wait until you graduate from college or should you be getting ready sooner than that? Chances are that if becoming a dentist is your goal, then you’ve already started the preparation work. But you should probably take the DAT test between your Junior and senior years in college. Give yourself time to retake the test if needed. However, you should know beforehand what to study. Let’s take a look at how the DAT is broken down.

But first, let’s take a better look at what you’re getting yourself into.

What Is The DAT?

The DAT is broken up into four key sections: survey of natural sciences, perceptual ability, reading comprehension and quantitative reasoning.

Survey of Natural Sciences – This section is broken up into three sub-sections: DAT biology (40 questions), general DAT chemistry (30 questions) and DAT organic chemistry (30 questions). So in other words…take a lot of science classes as an undergrad. This section of the DAT test takes 90 minutes.

Perceptual Ability – This section of the test is what’s known as “seeing outside the box.” Perceptual ability is designed to test the student’s ability in dimensional manipulation and special reasoning.

Reading Comprehension – This section of the test is divided into three reading passages followed by questions about each passage.

Quantitative Reasoning – This section is basically all of the math you’ve ever been taught condensed into one test. Special emphasis is placed on algebra, critical thinking (word problems), fractions and trigonometry.

Reading Comprehension – Measures the student’s ability to interpret and understand relevant reading passages and scientific concepts. Time for this section: 50 minutes to answer 45 questions.

What Is The Purpose Of The DAT Test?

The Dental Admission Test is designed to measure three aptitudes, including:

• General Academic Ability
• Comprehension of Scientific Information
• Perceptual ability

While all dental schools require the DAT, admission boards consider other factors. So remember to take as many relevant classes while in undergraduate school, even if the material covered in those classes won't be represented on the test.