r/INBDE

I feel so defeated, I studied for 2 months for an average of 8 hours a day. I did booster twice, had high chances of passing on the kicks and targets. I’m absolutely defeated and I’m a mess. I’ve never failed anything before and failing at 73 is so frustrating.

My question is: is taking the INBDE again as a 2nd attempt the death sentence everyone says it is? Do I really have a low chance of getting in now that I need another attempt? Am I truly fucked? Please give me any guidance. I’m spiralling and I truly thought I had this in the bag.

My profile is as follows:
ECE 3.39
US citizen

Tx coordinator and Dental Assistant to Office Manager and Dental Assistant Feb 2025 to 2026

Now I’m working at a peds practice as a dental assistant, and they have both a general practice for the kiddos and a GA surgery center and I’m an assistant for both.

I have been promised LORS from the previous and current dentist I work

for. It’s been a month since I’ve worked here and I intend to keep working because I need the money to survive.

I was part of the rotary club for a year back home and organised health camps and participated in health camps too for leprosy, pediatric oral health management, and behavior management in the dental practice.

During COVID I was part of the CSIA organisation and helped covid affected families find beds and hospitals

I have 1 year of work experience from my home country as a dentist (I worked under a dentist with a DMD) plus the additional 2 years of training in school that I received.

I’ve written several articles and I have a good English level as English is my first language! I also did a music diploma during my degree

I’m honestly just listing stuff here idk how relevant it is. I just need guidance and advice. Pls help and if you have nothing nice to say, keep moving. Don’t kick a sad woman when she’s down.

https://preview.redd.it/zkmk685vxx0h1.png?width=524&format=png&auto=webp&s=e77d195ec3aedd288e4eabe0b4fc0a6e7a9499b8

So, I failed my first attempt, and had requested the evaluation/review of my try (just to get an idea of what area I got wrong, and what I should reinforce in my studies).

I know what areas correspond for a good chunk of these (Like Patient Management, Research, Ethics, Pharmacology, Pathology, and Radiology do correspond for a decent amount of these groups), but others... I'm a little lost on what areas I should focus on (like "Molecular, biochemical, cellular, and systems-level development, structure and function" or "Biology of microorganisms in physiology and pathology" or "Cellular and molecular bases of immune and non-immune host defense mechanisms". Would that be more Pharma, Pathology, and pediatrics? Or a little bit of every area? And of so, what sort of questions would be a good reference to study for that?)

I hope this question makes sense, I'm just a little lost on how to go from here (beyond starting with the obvious/clear groups at least).

tl;dr It's free for dental students ✨ : https://www.teefsprep.com

https://preview.redd.it/bhb4q6polj0h1.png?width=2558&format=png&auto=webp&s=339d18900529924dd3cb5133cc00e773d484d588

If you're wondering why?
My girlfriend is applying to dental school as an international student and she needs to take the board exam for her program. I had no idea how much the INBDE process actually costs until I saw her prep. The exam alone is over $1,300, and by the time you add prep materials on top of that, it adds up fast. I think several hundred $$$ for some prep tools out there.

I wanted to build something I can improve over time and help give dental students some easy to use study tools. So, I built Teefs Prep. It's a free study platform with practice questions, explanations, and review tools. No paywalls, no "free trial then pay later" stuff. It's just free.

The software community has this culture of building and sharing tools openly, and a lot of us benefit from that every day. I'm hoping this too will help give students some extra resources without blasting a hole in their wallet.

If you're currently studying, give it a shot and let me know what you think. Genuinely want feedback on what's useful and what's missing. 😄

I’m foreign-trained and taking the INBDE in June. I’ve heard rumors/myths that taking the exam around the same time as students from accredited U.S. programs can lower your chances of passing because of the curve/competition. I’m not sure how true that is, but it made me wonder — when do most dental students usually take the INBDE? Is May–June a common time for students to take it?

Which one will be cost effective? I am planning to start preparing soon . My goal is to invest 6 months cz I have a job to do . So I will be able to manage 2/3 hours per day max

Hello Doctors,

I’m foreign trained dentist, planning to prepare for the INBDE and am looking for tutor who can work with me intensively, approximately 3 hours per day, most days of the week, over a 3-month period.

Would anyone be available for this kind of arrangement, or could you recommend someone who might be?

I would also like to know what this commitment would cost.

Thank you all for taking time to read this post!

I’m looking to start preparing for the INBDE and was wondering if anyone has any discounts for booster

If you fail one section of the INDBE is it automatically a fail for the whole thing?? Does anyone know what the actual % u need to get right is? Pls im so confused 😭

Was wondering if anyone had any advice on whether studying the question banks and explanations was enough or if the videos/notes are imperative too. I’ve tried to read the notes but a lot of them, like for Head and Neck Anatomy, are very long and dense. Should I even waste my time trying to memorize all these before I move to questions? I just don’t want to be inefficient