California Registered Dental Assistant (RDA) Written Exam

The written exam combines the general and the law-and-ethics content in a single sitting, and the Board's outline weights four domains:

• Dental Procedures — 50%
• Infection Control and Health and Safety — 25%
• Assessment and Diagnostic Records — 15%
• Laws and Regulations — 10%

Half the exam is the procedures an RDA is licensed to perform and assist with, tested at the level of technique, materials and sequence; a quarter is infection control and safety, where California's regulations are specific about sterilisation, waterlines and exposure protocols. The law section is the smallest but the least forgiving, because it asks exactly which duties an RDA may perform under which level of supervision.

The RDA written exam fee is $46.59. Before you can schedule it, you must also pay a separate, nonrefundable $120 license application fee to the Dental Board of California. Other costs, such as renewal fees, are listed in the Board's official fee schedule.

The exam is delivered by PSI, the Board's testing contractor, after the Board approves your application and issues eligibility; the question count and time limit are set out in the PSI candidate bulletin that comes with that eligibility, and the Board publishes the domain weights above rather than a question-by-question breakdown.

A candidate who fails or misses the appointment contacts PSI to reschedule, which takes 7–10 business days. Once licensed, the RDA licence runs on a two-year term expiring at the end of the licensee's birth month; renewal costs $100 and, after the first renewal, requires 25 continuing-education units per cycle.