Quick Summary Box — U.S. DAT (ADA)
| Administrator | American Dental Association (ADA) — ada.org |
| Testing window | Year-round at Prometric test centers — no fixed test dates |
| Examination fee | $580 USD (includes score reporting to the schools you select when you apply) |
| Partial Fee Waiver | 50% off the exam fee for approved candidates — apply before you register |
| Reschedule fee | $50 / $70 / $150 USD depending on notice (business days — weekends don't count) |
| Retake rules | Wait 60 days between attempts · max 4 attempts in 12 months |
| Score scale | 200–600 (since March 1, 2025 — the old 1–30 scale is gone) |
| Official scores | Reported to schools and posted to your DENTPIN account in 3–4 weeks — no unofficial scores at the test center anymore |
The one thing to know: the U.S. DAT has two traps that cost students real money — your application name must match your IDs exactly or you lose the full $580, and reschedule fees run on business days, so a weekend change costs more than you think. Get your DENTPIN and apply early, pick your schools carefully at application time (the list can't be changed later), and never let a date slide inside the 1–4 business-day window.
Quick Summary Box — Canadian DAT (CDA)
| Administrator | Canadian Dental Association (CDA) — cda-adc.ca. Not the ADA. |
| Testing window | Year-round at Prometric — you get a 6-month eligibility window after registering |
| DAT fee | $585 CAD (includes your transcript plus up to 5 school transcripts) |
| Format | 3 written sections only — no Organic Chemistry, no Quantitative Reasoning, and the Manual Dexterity (soap carving) test is not currently administered |
| Reschedule fee | $40 / $70 / $150 depending on notice, paid to Prometric |
| Registration refund | Partial refund if you cancel within 90 days of paying (minus an admin fee) |
| Score scale | 1–30 (unchanged — Canada did not move to 200–600) |
| Official scores | Released in 3–4 weeks; write at least 8 weeks before your scores are due |
Currency note: U.S. DAT figures in this guide are USD. Canadian DAT figures are CAD and labelled as such — the one place we break our USD-only rule, because the CDA charges in Canadian dollars.
Verdict
Sort out which country's exam you need before you pay anything — then register early and guard the name match. The U.S. and Canadian DATs share a name and a test-center vendor, but they are different exams run by different organizations, with different content, different scales, and different fee rules. U.S. dental schools use the ADA's DAT; most Canadian dental schools use the CDA's — and registering for the wrong one is an expensive, non-refundable mistake.
For the U.S. DAT: get your DENTPIN first, apply well before your target date, and treat the reschedule ladder as a countdown in business days. If there's any chance you qualify for the ADA's Partial Fee Waiver, apply for it before registering — waivers are granted in batches (January 1, April 1, July 1) and the 50% discount cannot be applied after the fact.
For the Canadian DAT: registration is a two-step flow (CDA first, then Prometric) and your six-month window starts when CDA confirms eligibility — so register when you're actually ready to test within six months. And plan around the 3–4 week score turnaround: CDA itself recommends writing at least 8 weeks before your scores are needed.
Detailed Breakdown
Two different exams — don't mix them up
| U.S. DAT | Canadian DAT | |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Dental Admission Test | Dental Aptitude Test |
| Run by | ADA (American Dental Association) | CDA (Canadian Dental Association) |
| Register at | ada.org — DENTPIN required first | cda-adc.ca — DAT Account |
| Fee | $580 USD | $585 CAD |
| Sections | Natural Sciences (Bio + Gen Chem + Organic Chem), PAT, Reading Comprehension, Quantitative Reasoning | Natural Sciences (Bio + Gen Chem only), PAT, Reading Comprehension |
| Manual Dexterity (soap carving) | Never part of the U.S. exam | Not currently administered (see below) |
| Total time | 5 hrs 15 min | 3 hrs 50 min |
| Score scale | 200–600 (since Mar 1, 2025) | 1–30 |
| Language | English | English and French (French DAT has no Reading Comprehension) |
| Unofficial scores at center | No — removed March 2025 | No |
U.S. DAT — how registration works
Source: ADA DAT Candidate Guide 2026 (ada.org). The DAT is offered year-round at Prometric test centers; there is no test-date calendar to race for, but summer seats at popular centers fill weeks out.
- Get a DENTPIN first. The Dental Personal Identification Number is your permanent ID across U.S. dental admissions (DAT, AADSAS, TMDSAS). Register or retrieve yours at ADA.org/DENTPIN before you do anything else.
- Apply through the DAT Program website. Application processing happens Monday–Friday during U.S. business hours. Use your legal name — exactly as it appears on the IDs you'll bring. A new application (and fee) is required for every testing attempt.
- Select your schools on the application. Score reporting to every school you select at application time is included in the $580 fee, no matter how many you pick — but the list cannot be edited or cancelled after you submit. If you select any dental school, your scores also go to ADEA AADSAS; selecting a Texas school sends them to TMDSAS too.
- Schedule at Prometric. Once your application is processed, you're eligible to test for six months. Book your appointment with Prometric inside that window. If six months isn't enough, one 45-day eligibility extension is available per application for $150.
- Test day. Arrive at least 30 minutes early. Total appointment time is 5 hours 15 minutes: optional tutorial (15) · Survey of the Natural Sciences (90) · Perceptual Ability (60) · optional break (30) · Reading Comprehension (60) · Quantitative Reasoning (45) · post-test survey (15).
U.S. DAT fees (USD, per the ADA 2026 fee schedule)
All ADA fees are non-refundable and non-transferable.
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Examination fee (includes score reporting to schools selected at application) | $580 |
| Score report requested after application (per report) | $55 |
| Score audit (optional; request within 30 days of your testing appointment) | $105 |
| Eligibility extension (45 days, once per application) | $150 |
U.S. DAT — rescheduling and cancellation: the business-day rule
Reschedule or cancel through Prometric (website or phone) — local test centers cannot do it, and the fee is paid to Prometric. You must act by the business day before your appointment and at least 24 hours ahead. Saturday and Sunday are not business days.
| Notice before your appointment | Reschedule fee |
|---|---|
| 30+ business days | $50 |
| 5–29 business days | $70 |
| 1–4 business days | $150 |
Sales tax may apply to reschedule/cancellation fees. No-show, or arriving more than 30 minutes late and being refused admission: your full $580 testing fee is forfeited, and you'll need a new application and payment to test again. A genuine test-day emergency (sudden illness, death in the family) can be appealed in writing to the ADA within five business days, with documentation.
U.S. DAT — ID requirements: exact match, two IDs
- Bring two original, current (unexpired) IDs: one primary government-issued photo ID with your name and signature (driver's license, passport, or passport card), and one secondary ID with your name and signature (debit card, credit card, library card).
- Physical IDs only — digital or paper copies are not accepted. Expired IDs are not accepted, even with renewal paperwork.
- The name on your DENTPIN record and application must match your IDs exactly. If it doesn't, you will not be permitted to test, and your appointment and fee are forfeited. Name/birthdate corrections must be completed at least two weeks before your appointment.
- The test center captures your identity biometrically (photo/fingerprint/palm-vein scan) at check-in.
U.S. DAT — retakes and partial testing
- Wait 60 days between attempts. Maximum 4 administrations in any 12-month period; if you've used all four, a fifth has to wait until 12 months after the first of them.
- After 3 or more attempts, you must apply to the ADA for permission to test again and provide proof of a recent dental school application with each new testing application. After your 5th attempt, you may retest only once per 12-month period. These rules are not subject to appeal.
- Partial testing is not permitted. You must take all sections — there is no way to retake only the PAT or only the sciences. An un-taken section is reported at the lowest possible scale score.
- Every attempt requires a new application and the full fee. Scores cannot be voided after you've completed any part of the exam, and schools receive your entire testing history, not just your best day.
U.S. DAT — scores and reporting
- Scores run 200–600 in 10-point increments (effective March 1, 2025, replacing the old 1–30 scale; the ADA publishes a concordance table for comparing old and new scores). There is no official passing score — each school sets its own bar. There is no penalty for guessing.
- Unofficial scores are no longer given at the test center (a change that came with the new scale in March 2025). Official results are reported electronically to your selected schools and posted to your DENTPIN account within 3–4 weeks of your test date.
- Results audits take about 4–6 weeks and must be requested within 30 days (fee: $105, above).
The Canadian DAT — a different exam, run by the CDA
The Canadian Dental Aptitude Test is administered by the Canadian Dental Association (CDA) — not the ADA — and is the exam Canadian dental schools are built around. Everything in this section is from the CDA's DAT Candidate Guide (updated January 2026), and all fees are CAD.
How registration works
- Create a DAT Account and register at cda-adc.ca. Use your legal name exactly as it appears on the government photo ID you'll present — a mismatch means no test and a forfeited fee, same as in the U.S. Corrections must be made at least two weeks before your appointment (email dat@cda-adc.ca).
- Wait for CDA's eligibility email. Processing usually takes about two business days. The email gives you your DAT ID, your eligibility number, and the start/end dates of your six-month testing window.
- Book at Prometric. Use the link in the eligibility email to book inside your window. If you don't test within six months, you must register and pay again.
- Test day. Arrive at least 30 minutes early with two pieces of ID, both bearing your signature: one government-issued photo ID (passport, driver's licence, citizenship card, provincial photo ID card, or Certificate of Indian Status) plus a second signed ID (e.g., a major Canadian bank credit card, or a student ID with photo and signature). Both must be valid and show the same name you registered with.
Format — what the Canadian DAT actually tests
The current Canadian DAT is a computer-based written test, 3 hours 50 minutes total:
| Section | Items | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Survey of the Natural Sciences — Biology (40) + General Chemistry (30) | 70 | 60 min |
| Perceptual Ability Test | 90 | 60 min |
| Reading Comprehension Test (English DAT only) | 50 | 60 min |
Plus an optional tutorial (15 min), two optional 15-minute breaks, and a 5-minute post-test survey. Two things that surprise U.S.-trained students: there is no Organic Chemistry section and no Quantitative Reasoning section. And the famous Manual Dexterity Test (soap carving) is not part of the current exam — CDA suspended it during COVID-19 and it has not been administered since; the current Candidate Guide's administration schedule contains no MDT at all. Do not spend prep time carving soap. (The French DAT includes all sections except Reading Comprehension.)
Canadian fees (CAD, per the CDA 2026 fee schedule)
| Fee | Amount (CAD) |
|---|---|
| DAT fee (includes administration, your official student transcript, and up to 5 transcripts to schools selected at registration) | $585 |
| Extra transcripts selected at registration (each, beyond the 5 included) | $20 |
| Transcripts after registration — first copy / each additional copy | $30 / $20 |
| Score audit (optional; within 30 days of the score reporting date) | $80 |
| DAT Preparation Manual (optional, paper-based practice test sold separately via your DAT account) | $30 |
Canadian rescheduling, cancellation, and refunds
Reschedule through Prometric, by the business day before your appointment and at least 24 hours ahead (Saturdays, Sundays, and statutory holidays are not business days). Cancelling or rescheduling your appointment does not affect your registration or your six-month window.
| Notice before your appointment | Reschedule fee* |
|---|---|
| 30+ days | $40 |
| 5–29 days | $70 |
| 1–4 days | $150 |
*Paid to Prometric; the CDA Candidate Guide lists these fees in USD. No-show, or arriving more than 30 minutes late: the full fee is forfeited and nothing is sent to schools.
Unlike the ADA, the CDA does offer partial refunds of the registration itself: cancel your registration within 90 days of paying and you get your fees back minus an administrative fee — $150 + tax if you cancel in the first 30 days, $250 + tax on days 31–90. To cancel, first cancel your Prometric appointment, then email the DAT office with your Prometric cancellation ID.
Canadian retakes
A new registration and fee are required for every attempt. You can re-register only after your scores from the previous attempt have been released, and you must wait at least 60 days between attempts (your new eligibility window starts on day 61). After three or more attempts, you must submit the CDA's Continued Application to Dental School Form with proof of a dental school application within the previous 18 months, and you may retest only once per 12-month period. Partial testing is not permitted in Canada either — all three written sections, every time.
Canadian scores
Scores are reported on a 1–30 scale, released usually within 3–4 weeks of your test date to the schools you selected at registration (electronically for Canadian schools; some U.S. and international schools receive them by mail), with an email to you when your report is viewable in your DAT account. Scores cannot be voided after you've completed any part of the exam. Write at least 8 weeks before any school's score deadline — that's CDA's own advice.
Which exam do dental schools accept?
- U.S. dental schools are built around the ADA's U.S. DAT — it's the test ADEA AADSAS is designed to receive. Some U.S. schools will also accept Canadian DAT scores (the CDA does transmit results to some American schools), but this is the exception, not the rule.
- Canadian dental schools are built around the CDA's Canadian DAT. Some also accept the U.S. DAT — the University of Toronto's dentistry FAQ, for example, states applicants may write either the Canadian or American DAT.
- The rule: take the exam of the country where most of your target schools are, and check every cross-border school's admissions page before registering. Acceptance policies are set school by school, and a $580/$585 CAD mistake doesn't transfer.
User Reviews — what students say about registration & test day
Community-sourced advice from pre-dental students, not our own testing.
- On summer seats (U.S.): "I tried to book a July date in June and my center had nothing for five weeks. Book the Prometric seat the day your eligibility opens, not when you feel ready." Summer seats at popular centers are consistently reported as the tightest.
- On the name match: "My application had my full middle name, my license has the initial. I almost got turned away at check-in." Students repeat this constantly for both countries: register with the name printed on the ID you'll actually bring, and fix mistakes at least two weeks out.
- On the missing unofficial scores (U.S.): "Nobody warned me there's no score printout anymore. Three weeks of refreshing my DENTPIN account." The March 2025 change still catches students out — budget the full 3–4 weeks.
- On the waiver batches (U.S.): "The January waiver batch was spoken for fast. If you qualify, have your documents ready before the batch opens, not after." First-come, first-served is the part students underestimate.
- On Canadian soap carving: "Half the prep posts I found still told me to practice carving. The MDT hasn't run in years — check the date on any Canadian DAT advice before you follow it." Outdated Canadian DAT content is everywhere.
- On note boards: "You get two note boards and markers, no graph paper guaranteed. Practice PAT and QR setups without grid paper." Both programs provide boards; grid lines are not promised.
Sentiment note: the recurring registration regrets are identical in both countries — name mismatches, summer seat shortages, and deadline math done in calendar days instead of business days.
Discount Link — the official fee help (there are no promo codes)
Neither the ADA nor the CDA issues promo or discount codes for the DAT — any website selling a "DAT discount code" is not legitimate. What does exist, in both countries, is an official need-based program. This is the real way to pay less:
U.S. — ADA Partial Fee Waiver
- Covers 50% of the examination fee on your first DAT and 50% on a retest — and includes one free full-length DAT practice test
- For candidates with demonstrated financial hardship who are testing for the first time: U.S. citizens (or foreign nationals meeting the IRS "green card" or "substantial presence" test) who received financial aid at their school and have never received a waiver before
- Granted first-come, first-served, in batches opening January 1, April 1, and July 1 each year — apply through your DENTPIN account (Submit Request → Waiver Request) and allow up to 10 business days for review
- Does not cover rescheduling or extra score-report fees — and you must apply before registering, because the waiver can't be applied retroactively
Canada — CDA Fee-Waiver Program
- Students receiving need-based, non-repayable financial aid (e.g., Canada Student Grants, OSAP or other provincial grants, institutional bursaries) can apply for a refund of the DAT registration fee
- 100 refunds per year, released in batches every four months, first-come, first-served
- Apply within 30 days of registering and before you book your test, via the Fee-Waiver Application Form on the CDA's DAT Uploads page
Methodology: public ADA & CDA pricing & policies, October 2026. No sponsored placements — ever.