Dental Council of Ireland examination format: Part 1 and Part 2

The Dental Council of Ireland’s examination is in two parts, held about two months apart in a single cycle each year: Part 1 in Dublin, usually in March or April, and Part 2 in Cork, usually in June or July.

Every written paper is a short-answer paper

This is the structural fact that shapes preparation. You write the answer; nothing is chosen from a list. Each written paper runs for three hours, all questions are compulsory, and each question carries the same marks.

Part 1: three written papers

All three must be passed in a single sitting. The Society paper is the one candidates from other jurisdictions underestimate: it examines Irish regulation, Irish law and ethics and Irish dental public health, and an answer written from another country’s guidance will use terminology that does not exist in Ireland.

Part 1: the bench test

Practical operative dentistry on manikin heads in a simulated clinical environment, in a session of about three hours. Tasks rotate between sittings and have included crown preparation with a provisional, rubber dam placement, cavity preparations and endodontic access.

• The grading scheme is disclosed to candidates at the start of the session.
• Preparing the wrong tooth is an automatic fail. Check, and check again, before you start cutting.

Part 2: three written papers

Part 2 papers have usually been set in two sections, most often with a separate answer book for each. Read the instructions on the day: putting an answer in the wrong book is an avoidable way to lose marks you have earned.

Part 2: OSCE and clinical vivas

An OSCE of clinical and rest stations covering diagnosis, treatment planning, clinical decision-making and basic clinical skills, and clinical vivas with pairs of examiners across the three Part 2 subjects.

No compensation between components

Each Part 2 component is passed individually, and there is no compensation within or between them. A strong performance in one paper does not carry a weak one. And a Part 2 repeat means sitting every component again, even one you passed before. The only relief is in Part 1, where a repeat candidate may be exempted from the component already passed.

Part 1 allows a maximum of two attempts and Part 2 a maximum of three.

What to practise

Short-answer marking attaches marks to points made. The habit to build is writing an answer and having it marked against a model answer point by point, so you learn where marks actually sit — which is rarely where a well-written paragraph puts them.

Questions candidates ask