ADC Exam Syllabus 2026 — Disciplines, Domains & the Official Blueprint

The ADC Written Exam doesn't test random dental knowledge. It follows a specific blueprint — a fixed percentage of questions from each discipline, tested across four defined domains. Here's exactly what's on it.

The 13 disciplines and their weightings

The ADC exam blueprint allocates a target percentage of questions to each clinical discipline. This means some subjects carry significantly more weight than others. Studying all subjects equally is a mistake — your revision time should roughly mirror these weightings.

Two subdisciplines — infection prevention and control and dental materials — are assessed across multiple disciplines rather than as standalone subjects. Questions about infection control can appear in any vignette; questions about dental materials appear within restorative, prosthodontics, and endodontics contexts.

The 4 assessment domains

Every question in the ADC exam falls into one of four domains. These domains describe what kind of thinking the question tests, while the disciplines describe which subject area it covers. A single clinical vignette might test pharmacology knowledge (discipline) through a treatment planning question (domain).

Domain 3 (treatment planning and management) typically carries the highest proportion of questions. This is where clinical reasoning matters most — you're given a patient scenario and must choose the appropriate management, considering the patient's medical history, contraindications, and Australian clinical guidelines. Domain 2 (diagnosis) is the next most heavily tested. Domains 1 and 4 appear throughout but less frequently as standalone question types.

How questions are distributed across papers

The exam has 4 papers of 70 questions each, but the disciplines are not assigned to specific papers. A common misconception is that Paper 1 covers restorative and Paper 3 covers oral surgery. In reality, all 13 disciplines appear across all 4 papers in varying proportions, following the overall blueprint percentages.

Each paper contains approximately 14 clinical vignettes (5 questions each). A single vignette can test multiple disciplines simultaneously — a patient with diabetes (general medicine) presenting with a periapical abscess (endodontics) requiring antibiotic prescribing (pharmacology) is one vignette testing three disciplines.

What this means for your revision

Restorative dentistry, oral surgery, general medicine, periodontics — these four disciplines together account for roughly 39% of the exam. If you're weak in any of them, you're giving away a large chunk of marks. Prioritise these.

Pharmacology at 8% looks modest, but it punches above its weight because prescribing decisions appear inside vignettes from other disciplines. A periodontics vignette might test your antibiotic choice; an oral surgery vignette might test your analgesic prescribing; a paediatric vignette might test dosing for a child. Pharmacology knowledge — specifically from the Therapeutic Guidelines — is woven through the entire exam.

Orthodontics and community dentistry at 5% each are the lowest-weighted disciplines. Don't ignore them — 5% of 280 questions is still 14 questions. But don't spend disproportionate time on them either. Know the basics: classification of malocclusion, growth and development principles, public health concepts, and fluoride recommendations.

On Reviz, Remy tracks your accuracy across all 13 disciplines and adapts your revision accordingly. If you're scoring well in restorative but poorly in pharmacology, Remy shifts more questions toward your weak areas — because the exam blueprint is fixed, but your preparation doesn't have to be.