third section of the dental state examination

How is the examination structured?

§ 58 ZApprO sets the earliest date at the end of the fourth subject semester after passing the Second Section; § 59 ZApprO divides the examination into an oral-practical and a written component. Subjects examined orally and practically are Dental Prosthetics, Orthodontics, Diseases of the Teeth, Mouth and Jaws, Oral Surgery, Oral, Maxillofacial and Facial Surgery, Dental Radiology, and the subject group Tooth Preservation. The written component covers medical subjects including Pharmacology and Toxicology, Pathology, Hygiene, Microbiology and Virology, Internal Medicine, and Dermatology and Allergology, together with nine cross-sectional areas. The examination thus covers considerably more than dentistry in the narrow sense.

Dates, duration, and passing

The written component lasts five hours on a single day and, under § 60 ZApprO, takes place nationwide in June and November. The oral-practical component begins during the semester break and extends over up to six months; oral examinations last 20 to 30 minutes. Each subject must receive at least a pass grade, and two resits are permitted. Candidates who have already passed the medical state examination are exempt from the written component under § 59 ZApprO. The pass mark for the written component is also determined partly by the performance of the reference group, which is why it varies slightly from sitting to sitting.

What does this mean for graduates from EU countries?

Graduates who complete their studies in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Malta, or the Baltic states do not sit the Third Section. For the German licence to practise dentistry, the qualifying certificate obtained there is decisive, provided it is listed in Annex V no. 5.3.2 of Directive 2005/36/EC. Graduates from a third country such as Serbia or Bosnia and Herzegovina must instead undergo an equivalence assessment and, if required, a knowledge test whose content is based on this section. Dates for these examinations vary considerably by federal state, and waiting times of several months are common.

Common misconceptions

The Third Section is the final examination but does not itself constitute authorisation to practise. The licence to practise (Approbation) must be applied for separately. A doctorate is not conferred alongside it either.