Free DHA Dental Assistant mock test
12 original exam-style questions from our Dental Assistant bank, timed at the exam’s own pace, scored against the 60% DHA pass mark. They span 7 of the 8 blueprint domains, so you will see exactly where you are weakest - free, no sign-up.
Sit 12 original exam-style questions at real exam pace
These are 12 original questions taken from our Dental Assistant bank, spread across 7 of the 8 domains of the published blueprint. You get 72 seconds per question, which is exactly the pace of the real DAS5111 exam (14 minutes for 12). At the end you will see which domains you are weakest in, and the full worked reasoning for every question.
- 12
- questions
- 14:24
- time limit
- 60%
- DHA pass mark
A short diagnostic cannot predict whether you will pass - only the real exam does that. It will show you, honestly, where you currently stand.
What the real Dental Assistant licensing exam looks like
Candidates for a Dental Assistant licence in the UAE sit a computer-based multiple-choice examination - DHA exam code DAS5111, delivered through Prometric for DHA, MOHAP and SHA, and through Pearson VUE for DOH Abu Dhabi. The DHA pass mark is 60% (DHA CBT Guideline, Sep 2026); other authorities set their own, so confirm yours before booking. The result is reported to you as pass or fail only - your score is never released.
Pass marks at a glance: DHA exam codes and pass marks for all written exams in one sourced table.
The paper is built to a published blueprint, which is why a domain-by-domain diagnostic is more useful than a raw percentage. Your questions above were drawn from across Chairside Assisting and Four-Handed Dentistry, Dental Radiography and Radiation Safety, Infection Control and Sterilisation, Dental Materials and 3 more - the same areas the real paper weights.
Before you can book the exam at all you need Dataflow primary source verification of your degree, licence and experience, which typically runs several weeks. Candidates routinely underestimate this and end up sitting the exam sooner after study than they planned. Check where you stand with our free eligibility checker or confirm whether your title even requires an exam using the Prometric exam checker.
You get three attempts in total across all UAE authorities - not three each - under the Unified Professional Qualification Requirements. At roughly AED 880 per attempt, plus the licensing delay each failure adds to your visa and start date, the cost of going in underprepared is not really the exam fee.
What is on the Dental Assistant exam: the full blueprint
The published blueprint splits into 8 domains and 45 testable sub-topics. The diagnostic above samples across them, which is why its breakdown maps onto the structure the real paper is built from.
- Infection Control and Sterilisation~22%8 topics
- Chairside Assisting and Four-Handed Dentistry~15%6 topics
- Dental Anatomy, Charting and Terminology~12%5 topics
- Dental Materials~12%5 topics
- Dental Radiography and Radiation Safety~12%5 topics
- Medical Emergencies and Patient Care~10%5 topics
- Specialty Procedures~9%5 topics
- Practice Management, Ethics and Occupational Safety~8%6 topics
- Questions
- 150 multiple-choice (DHA DAS5111)
- Duration
- 3 hours, including registration
- DHA pass mark
- 60% - reported as pass or fail only
Figures for the DHA exam, from the DHA CBT Guideline, Sep 2026. DOH, MOHAP, SCFHS, QCHP, NHRA and OMSB set their own length, timing and pass mark. See the DHA exam guide and pass marks for every DHA exam.
A worked Dental Assistant exam question
Every question in the diagnostic and in the paid bank is written to this standard: a clinical stem, four plausible options and the reasoning for the answer, with its source.
Chairside Assisting and Four-Handed Dentistry
In four-handed dentistry, where are instruments exchanged between assistant and operator?
- ADirectly over the patient's eyes and nose
- BBehind the patient's head at 12 o'clock
- CResting on the patient's chest and bib
- DIn the transfer zone below the patient's chinCorrect
Why: Instruments are passed in the transfer zone, over the patient's chest area just below the chin, keeping them out of the patient's line of sight. Passing over the face risks injury if an instrument is dropped.
Source: Modern Dental Assisting, 14th ed.
Dental Assistant sample questions with answers
4 more original exam-style Dental Assistant questions, worked in full. They are not real or recalled exam questions, and none of them is in the diagnostic above, so sit that first if you have not.
Question 1 · Chairside Assisting and Four-Handed Dentistry
For rubber dam isolation of a mandibular first molar, where is the clamp usually placed?
- AOn the tooth mesial to the one treated
- BOn the opposing tooth in the other dental arch
- COn a tooth distal to the tooth being treated
- DOn the most anterior tooth in the arch
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. On a tooth distal to the tooth being treated
The clamp is normally placed on a tooth distal to the operative site as an anchor so the working area stays isolated and accessible. For endodontics, the clamp is placed on the tooth being treated.
Reference: Modern Dental Assisting, 14th ed.
Question 2 · Dental Anatomy, Charting and Terminology
Which permanent tooth usually has two roots, one buccal and one palatal?
- AMaxillary canine
- BMaxillary first premolar
- CMandibular first premolar
- DMaxillary central incisor
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. Maxillary first premolar
The maxillary first premolar typically has two roots, buccal and palatal. Maxillary canines, mandibular first premolars and maxillary central incisors usually have a single root.
Reference: Wheeler's Dental Anatomy, Physiology and Occlusion, 11th ed.
Question 3 · Dental Materials
What happens if extra water is added when mixing dental stone for a model?
- ASetting is slower and the model is weaker
- BSetting is faster and the model is stronger
- CSetting is unchanged but expansion stops
- DThe model becomes harder and more accurate
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. Setting is slower and the model is weaker
A higher water-to-powder ratio lengthens setting time and leaves more porosity, reducing strength and surface hardness. Less water gives stronger stone but a shorter working time.
Reference: Craig's Restorative Dental Materials, 14th ed.
Question 4 · Dental Materials
Why should zinc oxide eugenol not be placed under a composite resin restoration?
- AIt releases too much fluoride into resin
- BEugenol inhibits resin polymerisation
- CIt is too radiopaque
- DIt sets too quickly to place
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. Eugenol inhibits resin polymerisation
Eugenol interferes with free-radical polymerisation of resin, weakening the bond and the restoration. Fluoride release is a property of glass ionomer and is not a reason to avoid ZOE.
Reference: Craig's Restorative Dental Materials, 14th ed.
How to use this diagnostic properly
- 1Sit it cold, once. Do not look anything up. A diagnostic you help yourself through tells you nothing. The number you get is only useful if it is honest.
- 2Read every rationale - especially the ones you got right. Getting a question right by elimination is not the same as knowing it. The worked reasoning is free above, whether or not you buy anything.
- 3Work weakest domain first. The breakdown orders your domains worst-first for exactly this reason. Studying what you are already good at feels productive and moves nothing.
- 4Re-sit under full exam conditions later. The real paper is far longer than this and stamina matters. Full-length timed papers are what the paid bank is for.