At a glance: requirements & format
Sourced from University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine's International Dentist Program admissions pages and the ADEA CAAPID program listing. Confirm anything decision-critical with the IDP Admissions Office at idp@buffalo.edu or 716-829-6926 before you spend money.
- Doctor of Dental Surgery (D.D.S.) — graduates are eligible to sit the various licensure examinations
- 24 months — an intensive preparatory summer course, then the third and fourth years of the D.D.S. curriculum
- 20 students, listed by ADEA CAAPID as an estimate — offers continue until the class is full
- March 5, 2026 through ADEA CAAPID; Buffalo opens each IDP cycle in March for the following summer intake
- June 1 — every application material, official TOEFL and NBDE/INBDE score and the $100 supplemental fee must be in the CAAPID portal by this date; no exceptions
- Yes — required and in person at the School of Dental Medicine in Buffalo, September and October; only candidates who pass are invited to interview
- In person at the School of Dental Medicine, on Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning, after the bench test — candidates must remain in Buffalo
- Required of all applicants whose native language is not English and never waived — 86 or better for tests taken January 1, 2025 through January 20, 2026, or 4.5 or better for tests taken January 21, 2026 or later; official scores must reach ADEA CAAPID, not the school
- Passage of NBDE Part I or the INBDE is required to be considered; passing NBDE Part II or the INBDE earns preference for admission; there is no exam expiration date
- Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE) course-by-course evaluation, sent to ADEA CAAPID — Buffalo does not accept a WES evaluation
- Three, submitted through ADEA CAAPID only; no dean's letter required and no additional letters accepted; letters must be no older than three years
- None — there is no separate UB application document, but the $100 supplemental application fee still applies
- $100 USD supplemental application fee, non-refundable and not credited toward charges if you enroll, paid electronically by credit card or e-check on top of the separate ADEA CAAPID fee
- Non-refundable; invited candidates receive the amount and payment instructions in their offer email
- Bench test and interview offers are sent through July and August on a rolling basis, not in application order, until all spots are filled; everyone not invited is notified by email once the offers are complete
- May of the admission year — the program opens with the intensive IDP summer course before joining the third-year D.D.S. class
- IDP Admissions Office, University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine — Luke Ramey, Director of Admissions; idp@buffalo.edu; 716-829-6926; 315 Squire Hall, Buffalo, NY 14214; phone hours 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern, Monday to Friday
Requirements change — verify before you spend money
Buffalo revises its TOEFL bands, score-reporting rules and calendar between cycles, and the bench test fee is only published to invited candidates. Before you book a TOEFL retake, pay the $100 supplemental fee, or buy travel to Buffalo, email idp@buffalo.edu or call 716-829-6926 and confirm the current cycle's requirements in writing.
How the Buffalo IDP evaluation actually works
Buffalo runs a file-then-hands-then-person model with a hard gate in the middle. Your written record decides whether you are invited, the bench test decides whether you are interviewed, and the interview decides the margin among candidates who can already cut a prep. Three of those four stages happen in Buffalo, in person, in a window the program sets.
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Stage 1: The complete file — everything lands in CAAPID before anything moves
Buffalo builds the whole cycle around one file. You apply through ADEA CAAPID, and everything that proves you are admissible has to be visible inside the portal by the June 1 deadline: an ECE course-by-course credential evaluation, official TOEFL scores, and official NBDE Part I or INBDE scores. Self-reported scores are not considered, and the program states plainly that score reports and letters must not be sent to the admissions office — a document that arrives at Squire Hall instead of CAAPID never reaches the admissions committee.
Then there is the fee and the paper. You pay a $100 USD supplemental application fee electronically, by credit card or e-check, after you submit the CAAPID application; the payment instructions arrive by email once Buffalo receives your submission. The fee is non-refundable and is not credited toward any charges if you are accepted and enroll, and it sits on top of the separate ADEA CAAPID fee. Send three letters of evaluation through the portal and mind the age rule — no letter older than three years is accepted. The committee reviews completed applications in the order they were received, so a perfect file submitted late is still read after an adequate file submitted early.
Self-reported scores are not a placeholder for official ones
The single most common way a Buffalo file dies quietly is an official score that is not in the CAAPID portal by June 1. Buffalo will not read a self-reported TOEFL or NBDE result, will not accept an evaluation from WES, and will not chase paperwork you mailed to the school. Order every official report early enough that it is reflected in the portal days before the deadline, then screenshot it.
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Stage 2: The bench test and interview offer — rolling, and not in application order
Here is the part that catches applicants out: the offer stage is not first-come, first-served. The IDP Admissions Committee sends bench test and interview offers throughout July and August, and it publishes that the offers are not necessarily made in the order applications were received. An applicant who submitted in June can be invited before a candidate who submitted in March. Offers arrive by email at the address you gave in your CAAPID portal, and selected candidates are expected to confirm their attendance.
When the wave of offers is finished, everyone who was not invited is notified by the same channel, so silence does have an end date. Between submitting your file and receiving an offer you should be running two projects in parallel: a bench preparation program of your own, and your travel documents. Buffalo is explicit that each candidate is responsible for their own visa, travel and expenses, and when the invitation lands you will be booking a flight to Buffalo on a date the school sets rather than one you prefer. The bench test fee is non-refundable, and its amount and payment instructions are released only with the invitation.
Keep the portal email address boring and current
Every offer, interview time and decision Buffalo sends goes to the email address in your CAAPID portal — not to whatever address you used two years ago. Check that address weekly through July and August, whitelist the buffalo.edu domain so nothing lands in spam, and tell anyone who shares the inbox to flag anything from the IDP Admissions Office the same day.
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Stage 3: The bench test — pass it or the interview never happens
The bench test is administered in person at the School of Dental Medicine in Squire Hall, Buffalo, and it assesses your clinical knowledge and hand-skill proficiency. Bench tests and interviews run in September and October, and invited candidates receive the exact dates. Then the sequencing turns rigid: only candidates who pass the bench test are invited to the personal interview. You are told your interview date and time by Wednesday morning after your bench test, and interviews run Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning — which means you must stay in Buffalo once you have finished the bench exercise. Booking a same-evening flight home can cost you the interview.
Prepare as if a small marginal slip could end your cycle, because at this stage that is literally true. Buffalo states that the bench test preparation course it once offered through the school is no longer available, so no course will be handed to you. Build your operative and prosthodontic hand skills on your own typodont, on your own schedule, months before September. This is the one stage with no conversation to fall back on and no essay that can compensate for it.
There is no preparatory course to fall back on
Buffalo no longer offers its bench test preparation course. Secure typodont access and materials through a dental supplier, a simulation lab or a colleague's practice, and drill US preclinical standards — taper, reduction depth, margin finish — under a timer. Do not build a September plan that depends on a school-run course that does not exist.
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Stage 4: The in-person faculty interview — after the bench, before the decisions
The interview is the stage you can actually rehearse. Buffalo describes its invitation-day process as an orientation to the School of Dental Medicine, a faculty interview, and the bench testing preclinical exercise, with the personal interview following a pass on the bench. Applicants describe the conversation as short and professional, predominantly one-on-one, with two faculty in the room often enough that you should be ready for either; the reported length averages around 30 minutes, and it reads as open file, meaning the interviewer has your application in front of them. Treat every line of your file as fair game.
The committee has also published what it weighs: effectiveness and clarity in verbal communication is called out as an important selection consideration, both for completing the academic program and for communicating with patients in the clinics. That is your brief for the room — structure your answers, show your reasoning, and speak to be understood. Decisions afterwards run on the program's calendar: provisional acceptances generally begin two to three weeks after bench tests and interviews are completed for all candidates, the committee keeps making offers until the roughly 20-person class is full, and nothing about that timeline accelerates because you ask.
Re-read your own file the night before
Open file means the interviewer has read your CAAPID application, personal statement and letters. Pick the three most distinctive items in that file — a clinical role, a research project, a community program — and prepare a two-sentence expansion for each. The trap is a question about your own application that you answer vaguely because you wrote it eighteen months ago and stopped thinking about it.
What Buffalo's admissions committee is really evaluating
Buffalo publishes its requirements and its calendar but not a ranked rubric, so read the six criteria below as the things this four-stage evaluation is built to measure. Each one maps to a stage you can prepare for.
Hand skill is a pass-or-fail gate
The bench test assesses clinical knowledge and hand-skill proficiency, and only candidates who pass it are invited to interview. It is not scored against your file on a curve — it is a threshold. Everything else in your application gets you to Buffalo; the typodont decides whether you stay.
A complete file, reviewed in order
The committee reviews completed applications in the order they were received, and it reads only what is in the CAAPID portal. An outstanding official score or an unpaid supplemental fee means your file is not complete, which means it is not reviewed, which means no offer is coming in July or August.
Official records only, from the source
Self-reported TOEFL and NBDE results are not considered, ECE is the only accepted credential evaluator, and letters must come through CAAPID and be less than three years old. The program deliberately routes everything through one portal — making the paper trail the first test of whether you follow instructions precisely.
Clear verbal communication
Buffalo names effectiveness and clarity in verbal communication as an important consideration in selection, for two stated reasons: you must complete an accelerated academic program and you must communicate with patients in the school's clinics. That makes the ~30-minute interview a language and structure assessment as much as a personality read.
Board exam depth, not just eligibility
Passing NBDE Part I or the INBDE is the minimum to be considered; passing NBDE Part II or the INBDE is given preference. Neither expires, so a strong result you already hold is permanently banked and is one of the few levers you can still improve before June 1.
Readiness for an accelerated two-year pathway
The IDP starts with an intensive summer course and then puts you straight into the third and fourth years of the D.D.S. curriculum alongside students who took the full path. The committee is choosing roughly 20 people who can absorb that pace and contribute to a small, high-contact cohort.
Buffalo dental advanced standing interview questions (with coaching notes)
These are the prompts Buffalo's in-person faculty interview is built around, grouped by the four things the evaluation measures. Practise every answer aloud, and frame each one against the IDP specifically — the faculty in the room have read your file and are listening for the school's own words back.
Motivational & background
4 questionsTell me about yourself and what made you want to pursue dentistry.
How to answer
Give a 90-second arc rather than a CV recital: where you trained, what your clinical work looks like, why you are pursuing a US D.D.S., and why Buffalo's two-year IDP is the vehicle. The interview is open file, so the trap is reciting your personal statement word for word instead of narrating the same material with emphasis.
Why dentistry?
How to answer
Answer with a specific origin plus a specific proof point: the moment or mentor that decided it, and the part of practice you have actually built competence and satisfaction in. The trap is the abstract answer about helping people, which every other candidate in the room also gives. Name a patient outcome you still think about.
Why Buffalo's International Dentist Program specifically?
How to answer
Name structural facts: the two-year pathway with the intensive summer course, entry into the third and fourth years of the D.D.S. curriculum, the small cohort of roughly 20, the clinic patient base in Buffalo, and the research opportunities the program advertises. An answer that survives a find-and-replace of 'Buffalo' is not an answer.
Why dentistry rather than medicine — and why not simply keep practising where you trained?
How to answer
Hold both halves. Explain why the surgical, restorative, relationship-driven nature of dentistry fits how you work, then explain what specifically you cannot get at home: US licensure, a CODA-accredited degree, or a patient population you cannot reach now. Vagueness on the second half reads as an applicant who has not thought through the cost of starting over.
Behavioral
4 questionsHow do you define professionalism, and where did you learn it?
How to answer
Define it as behaviour, not a slogan — informed consent, honest documentation, punctuality, and managing your own biases — then anchor it in one specific setting where it was tested and you chose the harder path. The trap is a dictionary definition with no example attached; the committee is checking whether your standard outlasts convenience.
How will you handle the academic load — the intensive IDP summer course and then third- and fourth-year D.D.S. credits?
How to answer
Answer with a method, not with grit: how you study, how you used spaced repetition or study groups for the INBDE, and one period when that system was genuinely tested. Mention that the summer course compresses preclinical content, so your honest plan matters more than your confidence.
Besides what we already know about you, what quality will allow you to do well in dentistry?
How to answer
Choose one quality and prove it with evidence from dentistry, not from general life: the ability to be corrected without defensiveness, tolerance for repetition in a prep, or the habit of finishing documentation before you leave the chair. The trap is naming three qualities and demonstrating none of them.
If you are accepted to more than one program, how will you choose?
How to answer
Be honest and decisive. Say what you are actually optimising for — integration into the clinic, cohort size, cost, location for family reasons, research access — and state plainly where Buffalo sits on that list and why. The trap is refusing to answer, or claiming Buffalo was always your only choice in a way the file does not support.
Ethical & scenario
4 questionsWhat would you do if you caught a classmate cheating?
How to answer
Separate the two duties: address the classmate directly and privately first, then escalate to faculty because patient safety and licensure depend on the integrity of the credential. Say exactly what you would document and who you would tell. The trap is an answer that protects the friendship at the cost of the standard, or one that escalates without ever speaking to the person.
A patient asks you to record treatment that was not completed so their insurance will cover it. What do you do?
How to answer
Name it: that is fraud, and you say no without ambiguity while staying respectful about the financial pressure behind the request. Offer real alternatives — staged treatment, a payment plan, a reduced-cost clinic — and document both the request and your refusal. Any answer that finds a 'middle way' fails this prompt.
A patient refuses treatment you believe is clinically necessary. What is your responsibility?
How to answer
Describe informed refusal, not persuasion: present the recommendation and the consequences of declining, answer questions in plain language, document the conversation, keep the door open for the patient to return. The trap is treating autonomy as a threat to your plan, or writing it up as a 'non-compliant patient' instead of a documented decision.
Should a candidate who commits to serving an underserved area after graduation get priority in admissions?
How to answer
Engage the real tension — mission-based selection versus ranking on merit — then take a position and defend it with a mechanism, such as scholarship-linked service commitments or clinical placements in high-need settings. Weak answers waffle for ninety seconds. Strong ones acknowledge the trade-off and say what they would build.
Bench-day & clinical readiness prompts
4 questionsWalk us through the case you worked on at the bench this week and the decisions you made.
How to answer
Treat it as a clinical handover: what the prep required, how you sequenced your time, what you checked before you finished, and what you would do differently. Specific operative language signals real bench experience. The trap is describing what you hoped the examiners wanted instead of what you actually did in the room.
How do you handle a restoration that does not meet your own standard?
How to answer
Answer with the professional response: identify the deficiency objectively, decide whether it is correctable chairside or requires redoing, tell the patient honestly, and document it. Buffalo evaluates hand skill and communication together, so the answer must show that a marginal prep produces an honest sentence, not a covered-up one.
Faculty correct your technique mid-preparation. How do you respond?
How to answer
Name the order of operations — stop, acknowledge, adjust, and ask a specific follow-up question — then finish the procedure and raise any disagreement privately afterwards. This prompt tests whether you can be supervised and still work efficiently; defensiveness or arguing chairside is exactly the failure mode being screened for.
You will treat patients in Buffalo whose first language is not yours. How do you explain a treatment plan to them?
How to answer
Describe plain-language technique with a mechanism: teach-back, diagrams, an interpreter when one is needed, and asking the patient to state the plan in their own words. Buffalo names verbal communication as a selection consideration, so tie your answer to patient understanding rather than to how fluent you sound.
Want feedback on your answers — not just the questions?
Practice these questions freeYour Buffalo IDP preparation timeline
Work backwards from June 1, then forwards through the program's published offer window. Two failures wreck most Buffalo cycles: an official TOEFL or NBDE score that is not reflected in the CAAPID portal by the deadline, and a bench-preparedness gap in September that no interview can repair.
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12–16 weeks before the June 1 deadline
- Check your TOEFL against the current band — 86 or better for tests taken January 1, 2025 through January 20, 2026, or 4.5 or better for tests taken January 21, 2026 or later
- Book a TOEFL retake if your score or test date misses the band; the test must fall within two years of the program start
- Order official TOEFL scores and official NBDE/INBDE scores to ADEA CAAPID, never to the school
- Start the ECE course-by-course credential evaluation; a WES evaluation will not be accepted
- Request three letters of evaluation for submission through CAAPID, checking none is older than three years
- Confirm you hold your final dental diploma — provisional degrees are not sufficient for the IDP
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6–8 weeks before the June 1 deadline
- Submit the ADEA CAAPID application to the University at Buffalo
- Watch for the payment email and pay the $100 USD supplemental application fee by credit card or e-check — it is non-refundable
- Draft a personal statement that argues for US practice and for Buffalo's two-year IDP, not a retelling of your CV
- Verify that official TOEFL and NBDE/INBDE scores, not self-reported entries, are visible in the portal
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The June 1 deadline week
- Confirm every document and both fee payments are reflected in the CAAPID portal — materials sent to Squire Hall are not forwarded
- Do not leave submission until the final days; the program states no exceptions will be made after the deadline
- Screenshot each completed portal section and save the confirmation emails
- Check that the email address in your CAAPID portal is one you actually read, since that is the only address Buffalo uses for offers
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July–August: the offer window and your bench program
- Check the portal email and spam folder at least twice a week — offers go out on a rolling basis and not in application order
- Start or continue a self-directed bench program: secure typodont access and materials through a supplier, simulation lab or colleague
- Drill US preclinical standards under a timer — taper, reduction depth, margin finish, finish-line quality
- Gather or renew your passport and visa paperwork; Buffalo expects invited candidates to handle their own travel and expenses
- If 1 August arrives with no offer, keep working; the committee continues until the spots are filled
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Bench test week, September–October
- Book travel to Buffalo with a full day of buffer before the bench test, not an overnight arrival
- Plan to stay through Thursday and do not book a same-day return flight — you must remain in Buffalo for the interview
- Bring photo identification and confirm with the IDP office what the school provides versus what you must bring
- Pay the non-refundable bench test fee as soon as the invitation's payment instructions arrive
- Work methodically during the exercise and re-check your prep before you declare it finished
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Interview and decision window
- Check your email Wednesday morning after the bench test — that is when your interview date and time are sent
- Re-read your CAAPID application, personal statement and letters the night before the interview
- Prepare a 90-second answer to tell me about yourself and a specific answer to why Buffalo's IDP
- Prepare three researched questions about the summer course, clinic rotations and research access
- Expect provisional acceptances to begin two to three weeks after bench tests and interviews finish for all candidates, with offers continuing until the class of roughly 20 is full
Buffalo dental advanced standing interview — frequently asked questions
What is the Buffalo IDP interview format?
The evaluation has four stages. All applicants submit a complete file through ADEA CAAPID by the June 1 deadline with the $100 supplemental fee. Bench test and interview offers then go out on a rolling basis through July and August, not in application order. Invited candidates sit an in-person bench test at the School of Dental Medicine in September or October, and only those who pass are invited to the personal faculty interview, which is held on campus the same week.
Does Buffalo require a bench test for international dentists?
Yes. Buffalo's ADEA CAAPID listing shows the bench test as required, and the program administers it in person at the School of Dental Medicine in Buffalo during September and October. It assesses clinical knowledge and hand-skill proficiency, and only candidates who pass it are invited to the personal interview. The bench test fee is non-refundable and its amount is provided with your invitation.
Can I prepare for the Buffalo bench test with a course?
Not through the school. Buffalo states that its bench test preparation course is no longer offered, so preparation is your responsibility. Secure typodont access and materials through a dental supplier, a simulation lab or a colleague's practice, then drill the standard US preclinical procedures — crown preparation taper, reduction depth, margin placement and finish quality — under timed conditions.
What is the personal interview like at Buffalo?
The interview is in person at the School of Dental Medicine and runs either Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning after you sit the bench test, with your slot emailed to you by Wednesday morning. Applicants describe it as short and professional, most often one-on-one but sometimes with two faculty present, averaging around 30 minutes, and open file, meaning the interviewer has read your application before you sit down.
What TOEFL score does Buffalo require for the IDP?
Buffalo requires the TOEFL of every applicant whose native language is not English and never waives it. The band is 86 or better for iBT scores taken January 1, 2025 through January 20, 2026, or 4.5 or better for scores taken January 21, 2026 or later; the test must fall within two years of the program start. Official scores must be in the CAAPID portal by the June 1 deadline — self-reported scores are not considered, and score reports should not be sent to the school.
What are the INBDE and NBDE requirements for Buffalo?
You must have passed NBDE Part I or the Integrated NBDE (INBDE) to be considered, with official scores in the CAAPID portal by the June 1 deadline. Applicants who have passed NBDE Part II or the INBDE are given preference over those who hold only Part I. Buffalo publishes no expiration date for the exams, so a result you already hold does not need to be retaken.
How many letters of evaluation does Buffalo require?
Three, submitted through the ADEA CAAPID portal only. Buffalo does not require a dean's letter and lets you choose your own referees; academic faculty or dental professionals who can attest to your skills, abilities and personal attributes are recommended. No additional letters are accepted, nothing sent directly to the school is considered, and letters must be no older than three years.
How much does it cost to apply to the Buffalo IDP?
There is a $100 USD supplemental application fee on top of the ADEA CAAPID application fee. It is paid electronically by credit card or e-check after you submit the CAAPID application, must reach the committee by the June 1 deadline, is non-refundable, and is not credited toward tuition if you are accepted and enroll. A separate non-refundable bench test fee applies to invited candidates.
How large is the Buffalo IDP class?
ADEA CAAPID lists the program size as 20 students, flagged as an estimate. The committee continues making offers until the class is full, which is why decision notifications run from November into the spring rather than arriving in a single batch. Confirm the current intake with the IDP Admissions Office if cohort size matters to your decision.
When do Buffalo IDP finalists hear back?
Bench test and interview offers are emailed throughout July and August on a rolling basis and not in application order, so a later application can be invited before an earlier one. Once the offers are complete, everyone who was not invited is notified by email. Candidates who bench test and interview begin receiving admission decisions about two to three weeks after that process finishes for all candidates.
Practice the Buffalo interview out loud
This page gives you the sequence and the traps. The interview itself is 30 minutes of speaking under scrutiny after a long day of bench testing. Our AI interview practice scores your structure, content and delivery instantly, so you can run the reps before the conversation that decides the margin.
Preparing for more than one program this cycle? Our MMI preparation guide covers the multiple-mini-interview format used by a growing share of advanced standing programs, and the AI interview practice tool lets you rehearse each school's questions with instant feedback. If your school list is still open, our dental school interview guides break down every program's format, requirements and timeline.