Dental School MMI Questions and Ethics Scenarios

Dental School MMI Questions and Ethics Scenarios

Of the US dental school pages we could load on November 7, 2026, one describes MMI stations: Texas Tech El Paso's Hunt School of Dental Medicine, on a Fall 2024 tips sheet. The rest describe one-on-one, one-on-two or panel interviews. An ethics prompt can still come up in any of them, so prepare the reasoning, not the format.

A dental ethics station is judged on how you reason, not on whether you guess the "right" outcome. Hunt says it outright: "We are looking to see your thought process and your perspective as well as how you gained that perspective." The reasoning that fits dentistry is already written down in the ADA's code of ethics, which names five principles. This page lists what each school publishes, shows how a station runs, gives the five principles in the ADA's words, and works six constructed scenarios through them.

Every school and ADA page quoted below was checked on November 7, 2026. If you are applying in the UK, the UK dentistry interview questions guide covers that system; for medical school MMIs, see MMI ethics scenarios for medical school.

Which US dental schools use MMIs

Only schools' own pages are used. The list is the schools we checked, not every dental school.

We also tried the Michigan and Ohio State dental admissions pages. Both returned HTTP 403 to us on November 7, 2026, so we do not state their format here. Read your invitation email; it is the format notice that counts.

Our view: prepare for an ethics prompt even if your schools do not run an MMI. Iowa's interviews include "situational" questions, and UCSF assesses "Problem-solving and critical thinking" in a one-on-one. The same reasoning answers a station prompt and a panel question. The countercase: if your only interviews are closed-file conversations about your own experience, spend more time on the dental school interview questions and answers and less here.

How a station runs

Hunt's Fall 2024 sheet is the most detailed US dental station description we found:

Three of its tips change how you answer:

• "Evaluators are silent participants." Do not wait for prompts or reassurance.
• "Silence as a form of brainstorming is not a negative." Take ten seconds to plan.
• "We know you want to be a dentist. We are not looking for a dental-related responses [sic]." Not every prompt is about dentistry, and forcing it there wastes the time.

Hunt's sheet is from a past cycle. Check this year's invitation for the current version.

Our structure for a seven-minute ethics answer (ours, not a school's):

1. Name the conflict in one sentence: whose interests pull which way.
2. Name the principles involved, in plain words.
3. Say what facts you would want before acting.
4. Lay out two or three options and what each costs.
5. Choose one and say why.
6. Say what you would do next if your choice failed.

The five ADA principles in one line each

The ADA's Principles of Ethics and Code of Professional Conduct (advisory opinions revised to October 2025) says the principles "are the aspirational goals of the profession" and that "The Code of Professional Conduct is binding on members of the ADA". Each principle's one-line duty, from the full code:

The code itself says "Principles can overlap each other as well as compete with each other for priority." That sentence is the whole ethics station: name the two that compete, then choose.

Six constructed scenarios, worked

Each prompt and answer below is a constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant statement. The quotes inside the answers are from the ADA code.

Scenario 1, constructed: a patient refuses treatment

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant statement. Prompt (invented): "A 45-year-old patient with a badly decayed molar refuses a root canal and asks you to fill it instead. The dentist says a filling will fail. What should the dentist do?"

"Two principles compete: the patient's right to decide and the duty to promote her welfare. I would want to know why she refuses: cost, fear, or a past bad experience. The ADA code says the dentist 'should inform the patient of the proposed treatment, and any reasonable alternatives'. So the dentist explains, in plain words, what happens if the filling fails, and offers the alternatives that are within accepted treatment, such as extraction. If she still refuses the root canal, the dentist does not place a filling he expects to fail; he documents the conversation and offers the options he can stand behind."

Principles: autonomy against beneficence and nonmaleficence. Autonomy is bounded: the code says "within the bounds of accepted treatment".

Scenario 2, constructed: a colleague's poor work

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant statement. Prompt (invented): "A new patient has a crown placed by another dentist that is clearly failing. The patient asks if the other dentist did a bad job."

"The patient deserves the truth about her mouth, and the other dentist deserves fairness. The code covers this directly: 'Patients should be informed of their present oral health status without disparaging comment about prior services.' I would tell her the crown has failed and what we can do, without guessing about the other dentist's skill, since I do not know the conditions when it was placed. If I saw a pattern of gross or continual faulty treatment, the code requires a report to the appropriate reviewing agency. One failed crown is not that."

Principles: veracity and justice.

Scenario 3, constructed: cost against the best treatment

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant statement. Prompt (invented): "A patient without insurance needs an implant but can afford only an extraction. What do you do?"

"The best clinical option and the affordable one are different, and both are acceptable treatment. I would lay out both with honest costs and long-term effects, ask what matters most to her, and look for ways to close the gap: a payment plan, a dental school clinic, a community health center. If she chooses the extraction, that is her decision to make with full information. The justice principle also points beyond this patient: the code says the profession 'should actively seek allies throughout society on specific activities that will help improve access to care for all.'"

Principles: autonomy, beneficence, justice.

Scenario 4, constructed: an impaired classmate

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant statement. Prompt (invented): "A classmate comes to clinic smelling of alcohol and is about to see a patient."

"The patient's safety comes first, and this cannot wait. I would ask my classmate privately whether he is all right and tell him he should not see the patient today. If he goes ahead, I tell the supervising faculty member immediately. The code says 'All dentists have an ethical obligation to urge chemically impaired colleagues to seek treatment', and that a dentist with first-hand knowledge of a colleague practicing while impaired has 'an ethical responsibility to report such evidence'. After the patient is safe, I would check on my classmate and point him to the school's support services."

Principles: nonmaleficence first, then beneficence toward the colleague.

Scenario 5, constructed: a friend asks about a patient

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant statement. Prompt (invented): "You are a dental assistant. A friend says her neighbor was in your office today and asks what the neighbor was treated for."

"This one has no competing principle worth weighing. The code says 'Dentists are obliged to safeguard the confidentiality of patient records', and autonomy includes 'confidentiality.' I would tell my friend I cannot share anything about any patient, including whether that person was there. Then I would change the subject, without making her feel accused."

Principles: autonomy (confidentiality). A station sometimes tests whether you can recognize when there is no real dilemma.

Scenario 6, constructed: a social media post

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant statement. Prompt (invented): "A classmate posts before-and-after photos of a patient's whitening on social media, captioned 'Best results in town, in one visit.'"

"Two problems. First, the patient's privacy: I would ask whether the patient gave written consent to have the photos posted. Second, the claim. The code says a dentist who advertises on social media 'has an ethical obligation to present factual information to the public', and it calls advertising that 'promises superior results' false or misleading. I would talk to my classmate first and suggest taking the post down. If it stayed up and the patient had not consented, I would raise it with the clinic director."

Principles: autonomy (confidentiality) and veracity.

Group and teamwork stations

Hunt runs a group task. Its Fall 2024 sheet lists a group activity with five applicants and one evaluator and says: "You discuss and work together, however you are evaluated individually." UCSF assesses "Collaboration, teamwork, and leadership" in its one-on-one interviews. No other school in our table describes a group station.

What a group task rewards, from Hunt's own tips: "Work as a team", "You have the ability to agree or disagree with the other applicant(s)", and "Applicants can change their mind about their responses throughout the activity." Our reading: invite the quiet person in, summarize where the group stands, and disagree with a reason. Do not try to win.

Ethics station checklist

1. Did I name the conflict in one sentence?
2. Did I name at least one ADA principle in plain words?
3. Did I ask for one fact I would need?
4. Did I give at least two options?
5. Did I choose, and say why?
6. Did I say what I would do next if it failed?
7. Did I stop before the time ran out?

Questions about dental MMIs

Which dental schools use the MMI?

Of the schools whose pages we could load, Hunt SDM describes MMI stations. Michigan's and Ohio State's pages returned HTTP 403, so check their invitations directly.

How long is a dental MMI station?

At Hunt, per its Fall 2024 sheet, 7 minutes to respond, plus 1 minute to read on the 2:1 stations. Other schools do not publish a station length on the pages we checked.

Do I need to memorize the ADA Code?

No. Know the five principles in plain words and be able to name the two that compete in a scenario.

Is there a right answer to an ethics station?

The station is scored on reasoning. Hunt says: "There is no right or wrong answer!"

Review the writing you send next

Nothing you say at a station is written down, but the letter you send after interview day is. Get a free Quick Review of your letter of intent against GradPilot's letter of intent and interest rubric, the closest rubric for a dental letter; it checks whether the letter ties a stated school feature to your reason for attending. News goes through the update letter rubric, and a secondary still open elsewhere through the dental secondary short-answer rubric, with six constructed answers in the dental secondary short-answer guide.

More dental interview guides:

• Dental school interview formats by school: open or closed file, panel or MMI, Zoom or in person.
• Dental school interview questions and answers: motivation, shadowing, dexterity and DAT questions.
• The medical school essays hub lists every dental, MD, DO and PA guide. Applying with a foreign dental degree? Our CAAPID interview questions page covers advanced standing interviews.

Sources

Retrieved November 7, 2026, except where noted.

• Texas Tech El Paso Hunt School of Dental Medicine, Interview Tips (Fall 2024): station types, ratios, times and tips.
• UCSF School of Dentistry, DDS Interview Candidates (no year stated): two interviews and four competencies.
• University of Iowa College of Dentistry, Application Process (no year stated): one-on-two format with situational and behavioral questions.
• University of Kentucky College of Dentistry, DMD Admissions (no year stated): panel format.
• UIC College of Dentistry, How to Apply to the DMD Program (2026-2027 cycle): closed-file faculty interviews.
• American Dental Association, Principles of Ethics and Code of Professional Conduct and the full code PDF (advisory opinions revised to October 2025): five principles and sections 1.A, 1.B, 2.D, 4.C and 5.F.7.
• University of Michigan School of Dentistry and Ohio State College of Dentistry admissions pages: HTTP 403 on November 7, 2026; not quoted.