Students often ask me what’s the difference between the Canadian and American DAT and whether they should use an American DAT resource to prepare for the Canadian DAT. It's important to know that both exams are remarkably different. For one, they are operated by different independent organizations: the American DAT is operated by the ADA (American Dental Association) and the Canadian DAT is operated by the CDA (Canadian Dental Association). 

More importantly, when you take a closer look at both exams, you can see that there are other noticeable differences that can impact your performance as they have completely different formats. This is why we always recommend using Canadian DAT resources to prepare for the Canadian DAT rather than American DAT resources. But in case you were wondering what exactly these differences are:

1. The Canadian DAT has a completely different format

One major difference is that the Canadian DAT has a different format than the American DAT, as shown in the image below:

2. Biology section covers different topics on both exams

You can expect different Biology topics to be covered on the Canadian DAT versus the American DAT. For example, the Canadian DAT does not cover experimental cell biology, biomolecules, experimental embryology, or genetic technologies, whereas the American DAT does. However, the Canadian DAT covers a few extra sections that the American DAT does not, such as: cladistics and ecosystems. For more information, you can check out the CDA website.

3. Canadian DAT can be used to apply to almost every dental school

One of the biggest benefits to writing the Canadian DAT is that it can be used to apply to every Canadian dental school and almost every American dental school. However, the American DAT is not accepted by most Canadian dental schools, so it’s HIGHLY recommended that you write the Canadian DAT if you are applying to dental schools in Canada.