BU Goldman School of Dental Medicine (DMD) Dentistry InterviewFormat, Questions & Prep Tips

Why dentistry, and why not medicine or another health profession?

BU Goldman interviewers want applicants who chose dentistry deliberately. Speak to what is distinctive about dental practice — the blend of hands-on procedural skill and diagnosis, the long-term patient relationships, and the autonomy of running your own clinical environment. Avoid framing dentistry as a fallback from medicine.

BU Goldman has more accredited dental specialty programs than almost any other US school. Are you considering a specialty, and how did you arrive at that interest?

If you name a specialty (orthodontics, OMFS, periodontics, endodontics, pediatric dentistry, prosthodontics), know what conditions it treats, the training pathway after the DMD, and the clinical exposure that shaped your interest. It is also fine to say you are keeping an open mind while general dentistry appeals — just be honest and specific.

Dentistry is a fine-motor profession. How have you developed your manual dexterity, and how do you know you have an aptitude for it?

Give concrete evidence — drawing or sculpture, a musical instrument, model-building, suturing or lab work, even detailed crafts. Reflect on how the skill improved with deliberate practice and on the patience and steadiness procedural dentistry demands, rather than just listing hobbies.

What attracts you specifically to BU Goldman over other dental schools?

Reference Goldman's depth of advanced specialty education, its urban Boston patient population with significant medical and social complexity, the focus on geriatric and medically complex patients, and the global dental health work. Show you have looked beyond reputation to the actual training environment.

A patient on multiple anticoagulants needs an extraction. They want it done today, but their physician has not responded to your consultation request. How do you proceed?

Patient safety governs the timeline. Discuss the bleeding-risk assessment, why medical consultation matters for anticoagulated patients, and the appropriateness of deferring an elective extraction until you have the information you need. Goldman trains alongside Boston Medical Center's complex patient population, so they value cautious, collaborative reasoning.

An elderly patient with early dementia attends with a daughter who insists on a full-mouth rehabilitation. The patient seems content with their current dentures. How do you handle this?

Capacity and the patient's own voice come first. Distinguish what the family wants from what serves the patient. Discuss assessing capacity, avoiding over-treatment, and Goldman's geriatric focus — sometimes the ethical answer is the least invasive plan that maintains comfort and function.

You discover a colleague has been recommending unnecessary crowns to boost practice revenue. What do you do?

Patient welfare and professional integrity outweigh collegial loyalty. Discuss verifying the pattern, raising it directly and professionally first, and escalating to practice leadership or a licensing board if it continues. Over-treatment is a real ethical hazard in fee-for-service dentistry.

Is it ethical for a dentist to offer purely cosmetic treatments — like veneers a patient does not clinically need — when the patient can pay and has capacity?

Respect autonomy while upholding non-maleficence. The patient can pursue elective care, but you must give honest information about irreversibility, risks, and alternatives, and ensure no commercial pressure drives the decision. Distinguish informed elective choice from manufactured demand.

How would you build trust with an anxious patient who is terrified of the drill?

Acknowledge the fear without minimizing it. Use plain language, the tell-show-do approach, and a patient-controlled stop signal (a raised hand). Move at the patient's pace, not the schedule's. In an urban population with diverse prior experiences of care, trust must be earned, not assumed.

Describe a meaningful experience from your dental shadowing or clinical exposure and what it taught you about the realities of the profession.

Go deep on one moment rather than listing hours. Reflect on what surprised you about the day-to-day of dentistry — the chairside relationship, the repetition, the business and team dimensions — and what it confirmed or challenged about your motivation.

How does a patient's systemic health — diabetes, immunosuppression, cardiovascular disease — change how you approach dental care?

This is the oral-systemic connection Goldman emphasizes. Discuss the bidirectional link between periodontal disease and diabetes, infective-endocarditis prophylaxis considerations, healing in immunosuppressed patients, and why the dental-medical consultation model matters for medically complex patients.

Walk me through how you would manage a patient who presents with a suspicious oral lesion you cannot explain.

Show structured clinical reasoning even without a dental degree yet: thorough history, examination, documentation with photographs, and timely referral for biopsy or specialist evaluation. Emphasize the dentist's role in early oral cancer detection — a high-stakes responsibility.

Why are prevention and routine recall appointments so central to good dentistry?

Most dental disease — caries, periodontal disease, oral cancer — is best managed when caught early. Discuss cost-effectiveness, quality-of-life impact, and the preventive framing of modern dentistry, especially for vulnerable urban populations who may present late.

A long-standing patient has not flossed despite repeated advice and now has worsening gum disease. They feel you are judging them. Reassure them and agree a plan. (Hypothetical scenario.)

Lead with empathy, not blame. Explore the barriers behind the behavior, set realistic and achievable goals, and frame the relationship as a partnership. Punitive or moralising tones erode trust and adherence.

A parent insists their teenager does not need the recommended treatment because 'they are just baby teeth issues that will sort themselves out.' Explain your concern. (Hypothetical scenario.)

Correct the misconception gently and clearly, explain consequences of delay, and respect the parent's role while advocating for the child's health. Check understanding and offer to answer questions — communication is about partnership, not a lecture.

If a public dental clinic in Boston had a sharp rise in untreated decay among recent immigrant patients, what factors would you want to investigate before concluding why?

Think about confounders: changes in the patient mix, access and insurance barriers, language and cultural barriers, fluoride exposure, and dietary factors. Show you would seek the underlying cause rather than jump to a single explanation — population data needs careful interpretation.