Dentistry Overview
Dental schools accept applicants without regard to their undergraduate major. Students can, therefore, choose to major in any field, although most students major in biology, biochemistry or chemistry.
Course requirements and academic standards vary, so students should become familiar with the specific requirements of the schools to which they plan to apply.The basic course requirements for the two Illinois dental schools (SIU and UIC) are listed below.
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Requirements
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Monmouth Courses
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Biology w/ Lab (1 year)
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BIOL 150 and (BIOL 155 or BIOL 200)
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General Chemistry w/ Lab (1year)
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CHEM 140 and CHEM 220/225
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Organic Chemistry w/ Lab (1 year)
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CHEM 228 and CHEM 230
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Biochemistry
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BIOC 330/335
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English (1 year)
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INTG 101 and ENGL 110
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Physics w/ Lab (1 year)
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PHYS 130 and PHYS 132
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Additional courses in biochemistry (BIOC 390), anatomy& physiology (BIOL 204 & 325), microbiology (BIOL 302), and genetics (BIOL 202) are highly desirable.
In addition to coursework, dental schools expect the applicant to have experience working with a dentist.This can be done as a paid internship, volunteer work, or a shadowing experience.
Applicants to either school are required to take the Dental Admission Test (DAT). The DAT is a 4-hour test that contains 4 sections: natural sciences (biology, general and organic chemistry), perceptual ability (2 and 3 dimension problem solving), reading comprehension, and quantitative reasoning.
Registration for the DAT can be found on the American Dental Association website: www.ada.org/prof/ed/testing/dat/index.asp.
The American Dental Education Association (ADEA) publishes the "Official Guide to Dental Schools", which contains comprehensive information on requirements for application and admission to every accredited dental school in the United States and Canada. The website for ADEA is: www.adea.org.