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Question planner Dentistry · 2027

What will your interviews ask?Practise the right questions for each dental school.

Add your schools to see how each one interviews and the questions to practise.

Add the schools you’re applying to

We’ll show how each one interviews and what to practise.

Free · No sign-up · 78 US dental schools mapped · 485 questions in the bank

How it works

From your school list to a practice plan

Interviews differ far more between schools than most applicants expect. The planner reads what each of yours actually runs, so your practice time goes where the marks are.

  1. 1
    Each school's real format: MMI, panel, traditional or recorded, with the station count, timings and when interviews run, from our research of each school’s published format.
  2. 2
    The question types, ranked: every station mapped to a question type, then ranked across your schools so the types they all test come first.
  3. 3
    Locked practice questions, then a mock: real questions from the question bank for every type you need to practise, and a mock built for each school.
Question types

The question types US dental schools test

Ranked by how many US dental schools test each one. Open a type to see what assessors look for and how to practise it.

Why dentistry78/78 of 78 schools

What they look for. A motivation for dentistry that is specific, tested against real experience and honest about the downsides of the job.

How to practise. Rehearse a two-minute answer built on one or two moments you can talk about in detail, then stress-test it with "why not nursing or dental hygiene?" follow-ups.

31 why dentistry questions in the bank
Why this school78/78 of 78 schools

What they look for. That you know the school’s mission, curriculum and patient population, and can say how you would contribute to them.

How to practise. Write three school-specific reasons per interview: one about the curriculum, one about the community it serves and one about you.

Personal qualities & resilience78/78 of 78 schools

What they look for. Self-awareness: your strengths and weaknesses, how you cope with pressure and failure, and whether you have the qualities of a good dentist.

How to practise. List three strengths and one genuine weakness with evidence for each, plus a setback you can reflect on without sounding rehearsed.

95 personal qualities & resilience questions in the bank
Manual dexterity78/78 of 78 schools

What they look for. Evidence of fine hand skills and the patience to build them, or a practical task done under observation.

How to practise. Prepare examples from hobbies such as instruments, art or model-making, and talk through how you improved.

11 manual dexterity questions in the bank
Shadowing & dental experience77/78 of 78 schools

What they look for. Reflection, not description: what you saw, what it taught you about the job and how it changed your view.

How to practise. Turn each placement or volunteering role into one short story with a clear lesson about patients, teams or yourself.

18 shadowing & dental experience questions in the bank
Ethics & professionalism61/78 of 78 schools

What they look for. Balanced reasoning through a dilemma: weighing both sides, applying the core principles and landing on a safe, justified decision.

How to practise. Practise talking through consent, confidentiality, capacity and resource allocation out loud, using a structure such as "identify, explore, decide, safeguard".

146 ethics & professionalism questions in the bank
US health care & hot topics60/78 of 78 schools

What they look for. A grounded view of the US health system and access to oral health care: insurance and access, costs, workforce and the issues in the news.

How to practise. Keep a running list of five current stories with a two-sided summary of each, and practise giving a balanced opinion in under two minutes.

56 us health care & hot topics questions in the bank
Service & community23/78 of 78 schools

What they look for. A track record of service and a sense of the community you want to serve as a future physician or dentist.

How to practise. Pick your most sustained service activity and practise explaining what it taught you about the people you served.

14 service & community questions in the bank
Teamwork & leadership17/78 of 78 schools

What they look for. Evidence that you work well in a team, can lead when needed and handle conflict without blame.

How to practise. Prepare two STAR examples, one where you led and one where you followed, each ending with what you would do differently.

18 teamwork & leadership questions in the bank
Empathy & role play6/78 of 78 schools

What they look for. Communication with an actor or patient: listening, acknowledging feelings, explaining clearly and agreeing a next step.

How to practise. Run timed role plays with a friend playing an upset patient, relative or colleague, and get marked on empathy as well as content.

74 empathy & role play questions in the bank
Data & problem solving1/78 of 78 schools

What they look for. Calm, structured thinking: reading a graph or table, doing quick calculations, prioritising and explaining your reasoning as you go.

How to practise. Practise interpreting simple graphs and prioritisation tasks against the clock, narrating your thinking aloud.

5 data & problem solving questions in the bank
Research & academic reasoning1/78 of 78 schools

What they look for. Academic curiosity: how you approach research and evidence, and how you reason through an unfamiliar problem.

How to practise. Be ready to explain any research you have done in plain language: the question, your role, the result and what you would do next.

41 research & academic reasoning questions in the bank
Health equity & diversity1/78 of 78 schools

What they look for. Awareness of health inequity and of how background, culture and access shape patients’ care, plus how you would serve a diverse population.

How to practise. Prepare an example of working with people unlike you and a view on one cause of inequity you have seen first-hand.

15 health equity & diversity questions in the bank
Every school

Every US dental school's interview at a glance

Each school's format and the question types it tests most. Open a school's guide for timings and more example questions.

Alabama1 school
Arizona2 schools
Arkansas1 school
California7 schools
Colorado1 school
Connecticut1 school
District of Columbia1 school
Florida3 schools
Georgia1 school
Illinois3 schools
Indiana1 school
Iowa1 school
Kentucky3 schools
Louisiana1 school
Maine1 school
Maryland1 school
Massachusetts3 schools
Michigan2 schools
Minnesota1 school
Mississippi1 school
Missouri3 schools
Nebraska2 schools
Nevada1 school
New Jersey1 school
New York6 schools
North Carolina3 schools
Ohio3 schools
Oklahoma1 school
Oregon1 school
Pennsylvania3 schools
Puerto Rico3 schools
South Carolina1 school
Tennessee3 schools
Texas4 schools
Utah2 schools
Virginia1 school
Washington2 schools
West Virginia1 school
Wisconsin1 school
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Practise by question type rather than memorising answers. Almost every US dental school tests your motivation for dentistry, ethical reasoning, communication and empathy, teamwork and your personal qualities, and most also ask why you chose that school and what you know about the health system and current issues. What changes from school to school is the mix and the format: most US schools run a traditional interview built around your application, while a growing minority use MMIs or a mix of both. Choose your schools in the planner to see the exact mix for each one, with practice questions for every type.

Now practise the questions that count

Every question type in your plan is in the interview question bank, with follow-ups and a mark scheme for each. Start with a free mock, then work through the types your schools test most.

Explore the question bankTry a free mockInterview preparation

Reviewed by Isaac Butler-King, medical student at the University of Glasgow. Last reviewed: 14 September 2026 · Editorial policy