Books for ADC Written Examination Preparation

Australian Dental Council Exam or ADC Exam is a way for Foreign trained Dentists to be eligible to practice in Australia, by clearing the ADC Part 1 and Part 2 International Dentists can start to practice in Australia. To clear the Examination it is important to follow and prepare with proper resources, study materials and books. Here I have compiled a list of Books (Subject wise) and General Books which are essential for your preparation for ADC along with certain Journals which can be useful to keep in touch with recent advancements in clinical Dentistry.    

The written examination is divided into 2 days and 4 Sections (parts) 2 on each day. It is a multiple choice type examination and a total of 280 questions (240 Scored and 40 Unscored Questions) are divided into 4 Parts of 70 each. There is a preset percentage of questions which are given to each disciplines which is mentioned in the ADC Written Exam Handbook (Table 1). 

Percentage wise questions allotted to each specialty – 

1. Restorative Dentistry – 12% 
2. General Medicine – 9%
3. Oral Medicine and pathology – 9%
4. Endodontics – 8%
5. Oral Surgery – 8%
6. Pediatric dentistry and Orthodontics – 8% 
7. Pain and behaviour management – 7%
8. Periodontics – 8%
9. Preventive Dentistry – 8%
10. Dental Emergencies – 7%
11. Removable Prosthodontics – 6%
12. Infection prevention and control – 5%
13. Radiography – 5%

Restorative Dentistry – 

• Sturdevant’s art & science of operative Dentistry b yRitter AV, Boushell LW, Walter E
• Preservation and Restoration of tooth structure by Mount GJ, Hume WR aNgo HC and Wolff MS

General Medicine –

• Davidsons’s Principles and Practice of Medicine 

Oral Medicine and Radiology –

• Burkets – Text Book Of Oral Medicine – Burkets (Author)
• White and Pharaoh’s – Oral Radiology – Principles and Interpretation by Stuart White and Micheal Pharaoh (Authors)

Endodontics – 

• Cohen’s Pathways of Pulp. Berman LH, Hargraves
• Endodontics: Principles and practice – Torabinejad M, Fouad A, Walton RE

Oral Surgery –

• Peterson’s Principles of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
• Geoffrey Howe – The Extraction of Teeth
• Textbook of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery – Neelima Anil Malik

Pediatric dentistry –

• McDonald and Avery – Dentistry for the Child and Adolescent – McDonald and Avery
• Textbook Of Pedodontics – Shoba tandon

Orthodontics –

• Textbook of Contemporary Orthodontics by William R. Proffit 
• Orthodontic Diagnosis and Management of Malocclusion and Dentofacial Deformities by O.P. Kharbanda

Pain and behavior management – 

• Okeson, JP. Bell’s Oral and Facial Pain (formerly Bell’s Orofacial Pain), 7th ed.

Periodontics – 

• Carranza’s – Clinical Periodontology by Carranza
• Shanti Priya Reddy’s – Essentials Of Clinical Periodontology And Periodontics by shanti Priya Reddy (Author)

Preventive and Community Dentistry – 

• Dr. Soben Peter – Essentials of Preventive and Community Dentistry by Dr. Soben Peter
• Joseph John – Textbook of Preventive and Community Dentistry by Joseph John

Removable Prosthodontics

• McCracken’s – Removable Partial Prosthodontics by McCracken’s
• Nallaswamy – Textbook Of Prosthodontics by Nallaswamy

Infection prevention and control

• Australian Dental Association. Practical Guide to Infection Control Manual, 9th edition
• Australian Dental Association. ADA’s Guidelines for Infection Prevention and Control, 4th ed, 2022

Radiography – 

• White and Pharaoh’s – Oral Radiology – Principles and Interpretation by Stuart White and Micheal Pharaoh
• Ghom – Textbook of Oral Medicine – Ghom (Indian Author)

There are certain Dental Journals which are useful in gaining knowledge about the latest in the field of Dentistry – 

• Australian Dental Journal – Link
• Journal of the American Dental Association – Link

With the pattern of Written Examination or Part 1 being made more Clinical scenario oriented it is important for International dental students to have a good grasp on theoretical along with clinical knowledge and concept, to be able to answer the questions. The books mentioned are given are depending on the percentage of questions asked in each specialty. So we can have a rough idea on which specialty to concentrate more on (12% questions are allotted to Restorative Dentistry). 

All the very best for clearing your ADC part 1 Examination and taking your first step towards fulfilling your dream of practicing in Australia as a Practicing Dentist.