The Integrated National Board Dental Examination (INBDE) is the written licensure exam required to practice dentistry in the United States. It launched in August 2020, replacing the old two-part NBDE exam that came before it.
If you trained as a dentist outside of the US, passing the INBDE is your first mandatory step toward revalidation — the gateway to advanced standing programs, residencies, and ultimately, your US dental license.
The JCNDE designed the INBDE to be different from its predecessor. It doesn't just test isolated facts. It tests integration — your ability to connect biomedical science, clinical knowledge, and patient management into real decisions. That's what makes it challenging, and that's what makes strategic preparation non-negotiable.
The old NBDE had two separate parts — Part I tested basic sciences, Part II tested clinical sciences. You could take them years apart. The JCNDE recognized this created a problem: students were memorizing facts without integrating them. The INBDE was designed to fix that — forcing you to think the way a real dentist thinks.