OMSB dental exam: the general dentist paper

Facts last verified 5 October 2026.

General dentists need 65% to pass (OEGD booklet). Set your practice target for this paper.

Is this the right paper for you?

The Omani Examination for General Dentists (OEGD) booklet covers general dentistry. It gives no degree or internship entry rules. Ask OMSB if you can sit it before paying.

Pass 65%

Format at a glance

100 questions. Time: 2 h 30 min. Pass mark: 65%.

Delivered by Pearson VUE.

Sources: OMSB dental booklet

What the paper covers

ProMCQ sets these topic targets for its mock papers, using the published OMSB blueprint as a guide. They can differ from the official weights, so check the blueprint for those. Each mock includes national-topic content, so its final question shares can differ slightly from these targets.

  • Prosthodontics (12%): Revise dentures, crowns and bridges. Check design, impressions and occlusion.
  • Endodontics (13%): Work through pulp and periapical diagnosis, canal preparation and irrigants. Review what to do when treatment fails.
  • Oral Surgery & Oral Medicine (15%): Cover extractions, their complications, local anaesthesia and oral lesions. Include patients who also have a medical illness.
  • Operative Dentistry (13%): Review caries, cavity design and restorative materials. Know why a filling can fail.
  • Paediatric Dentistry (10%): Practise care for children: behaviour, pulp therapy, fluoride and trauma to young teeth.
  • Periodontics (12%): Review staging and treatment without surgery. Include links between gum disease and systemic illness.
  • Special Care Dentistry (10%): Adapt care for patients with medical, physical or cognitive needs. Check how drugs such as anticoagulants affect care.
  • Orthodontics (5%): Spot malocclusion and know when to refer. Review interceptive treatment.
  • Common Competencies (10%): Check infection control, radiography, consent and records. Practise the first steps for a chairside emergency.

Sample questions

Eight original practice questions from the OMSB dentists bank. They are written to the paper's style, not taken from the live exam. Pick an answer to see the key and explanation.

  1. A 55-year-old man has a bulbous root on tooth 45 caused by excessive deposition of cementum by cementoblasts. A periapical radiograph is taken before extraction. How should the lamina dura and PDL space appear around the enlarged root?

    1. Absent over the bulbous area
    2. PDL space widened apically
    3. Lamina dura interrupted apically
    4. Continuous around the cementum
    Answer

    D. Hypercementosis is excessive cementum deposition by cementoblasts. On radiographs, the lamina dura and the PDL space remain continuous around the extra cementum.

  2. A vital tooth is being prepared with a high-speed rotary instrument and water spray. Which function-outcome pairing represents the primary biologic purpose of the spray?

    1. Flushing cutting debris to reduce bacterial contamination
    2. Cooling the tooth to prevent pulpal thermal injury
    3. Cooling the tooth to reduce postoperative sensitivity
    4. Flushing cutting debris to improve operative visibility
    Answer

    B. Water spray primarily cools the tooth and prevents pulpal thermal injury during high-speed cutting. Debris clearance and improved visibility are additional but secondary benefits.

  3. A 42-year-old woman attends try-in of a porcelain crown on tooth 21. The crown appears uniformly colored from cervical to incisal edge, whereas tooth 11 shows a clear cervical-to-incisal color gradient. Which porcelain modification most improves the match?

    1. Increase incisal chroma
    2. Raise cervical value
    3. Increase cervical chroma
    4. Add cervical violet stain
    Answer

    C. A natural tooth shows a distribution of color rather than one flat shade. The cervical third has the highest chroma because its enamel is thinner and more dentin shows through. The middle third is intermediate, and the incisal third has the lowest chroma with the greatest translucency. A crown that looks uniform from cervical to incisal lacks this gradient. The most effective correction is to give the cervical third of the porcelain greater chroma than the middle and incisal thirds.

  4. Four children are being considered for general anesthesia for dental care. Which child has the strongest indication for general anesthesia?

    1. A very young, noncommunicative child who needs extensive urgent treatment
    2. A healthy, cooperative child who needs one minimal restorative procedure
    3. A mildly anxious, communicative child who needs a short routine procedure
    4. A cooperative child who needs local anesthesia for one painful procedure
    Answer

    A. General anesthesia is indicated when safe, humane treatment is not realistic with ordinary behavior guidance or office sedation, particularly when a very young or noncommunicative child requires extensive urgent care.

  5. Which patient is the best candidate for masseter or temporalis botulinum toxin injection?

    1. A patient with a recent nonreducing disc and persistent acute closed lock
    2. A patient with a painless reciprocal click and preserved maximum opening
    3. A patient with refractory chronic myofascial pain after conservative care and splint therapy
    4. A patient newly diagnosed with chronic myofascial pain and muscle tenderness
    Answer

    C. Botulinum toxin may be individualized as a second- or third-line treatment for refractory chronic myofascial TMD or bruxism-related masseter or temporalis hypertrophy after conservative care and splint therapy have been insufficient.

  6. A patient is suspected of having purulent exudate within a periodontal pocket, and the adjacent gingiva is to be examined digitally. How should the gingiva be pressed to express the exudate?

    1. At the pocket opening, gentle pressure, stationary contact
    2. Apical to the margin, aggressive pressure, coronal movement
    3. Apical to the margin, gentle pressure, apical movement
    4. Apical to the margin, gentle pressure, coronal movement
    Answer

    D. The pad or tip of the index finger is placed on the lateral gingiva or interdental papilla apical to the marginal gingiva. Gentle pressure is moved coronally toward the pocket opening to express purulent exudate.

  7. A patient reports exertional dyspnea and takes a water tablet, but no orthopnea or peripheral edema has been established. Which interpretation is most appropriate?

    1. Prioritize CHF because dyspnea plus diuretic use strongly supports the diagnosis.
    2. Prioritize a broad assessment of pulmonary, cardiac, anaemia, and anxiety causes.
    3. Prioritize pulmonary disease because the breathlessness occurs only with exertion.
    4. Prioritize anxiety because orthopnea and edema have not been reported.
    Answer

    B. Isolated dyspnea is far less specific than the combination of dyspnea, orthopnea, edema, and diuretic use. Pulmonary, cardiac, anaemia, and anxiety causes should be considered before attributing it to congestive heart failure.

  8. After early loss of an adjacent tooth, a molar has tipped mesially into the edentulous space. Orthodontic uprighting is planned before implant placement. What is the primary restorative benefit of this movement?

    1. Maintained mesial inclination and a narrower adjacent prosthetic site
    2. Improved molar angulation and a parallel adjacent prosthetic site
    3. Increased mesial inclination and a wider adjacent prosthetic site
    4. Leveled marginal ridge with a less parallel adjacent prosthetic site
    Answer

    B. Molar uprighting improves angulation, levels the marginal ridge, and creates a parallel, prosthetically favorable adjacent space before restoration or implant placement.

Full papers in the real format

10 timed mock papers of 100 questions each, built to the weights above. No question repeats across papers.

How to prepare

  • The OEGD booklet gives 100 questions in 2 hours 30 minutes. We work that out as 90 seconds per question (booklet time).
  • Read Shillingburg, Torabinejad, Lindhe, Neville and Proffit (reading list).
  • Practise oral surgery with special-care cases. Include local anaesthetic interactions and bleeding risk. Save time on short questions for image cases.
  • Our Oman notes cover population health and risk factors. They also cover health services, workforce, law and the formulary.

Licensing steps

  1. Check licence requirements: Follow licence steps for documents and your employer’s role.
  2. Plan fees and book: Use fees and booking to plan costs and check your ID.
  3. Use your result: Follow results and next steps after a pass or fail.

Frequently asked questions

Does the OEGD use single-best-answer questions?

Yes (OEGD booklet).

How many wrong answers does the pass mark allow?

The OEGD booklet gives no wrong-answer allowance. Any higher mock target is your own safety margin.

Where can you find the OEGD topic outline?

Use the OEGD booklet for the general dentistry outline.

Where do you book and check your result?

Use OMSB fees and booking. Then follow OMSB results and next steps.

Sources

Facts last verified 2026-10-05.

  1. Omani Examination for General Dentists booklet (August 2025), Oman Medical Specialty Board