How to prepare for the ORE Part 2

Read the General Dental Council's ORE Part 2 candidate guidance and Preparing for Practice outcomes first so you know what each of the four components tests. Then rehearse the 5-minute OSCE stations, the 13-minute and 15-minute Diagnostic and Treatment Planning stages, and the 15-minute Medical Emergencies viva out loud against the clock alongside your phantom-head practice.

Step by step

1. 1

   Study the GDC Preparing for Practice outcomes and ORE Part 2 guidance

   ORE Part 2 tests the clinical, communication, management and leadership outcomes expected of a newly qualified UK dentist (Safe Beginner). Map your revision across all four examination components: Dental Manikin, OSCE, Diagnostic and Treatment Planning (DTP), and Medical Emergencies.

2. 2

   Rehearse 5-minute OSCE communication and history stations to the clock

   In a 5-minute OSCE station after 1 minute of reading time, structure is decisive. Practise opening warmly, taking a focused dental and medical history (including anticoagulants, antiresorptive medications, infective endocarditis risk and allergies), addressing the patient's concerns and explaining options in plain English without dental jargon.

3. 3

   Practise both stages of Diagnostic and Treatment Planning (DTP) together

   Rehearse the 13-minute simulated patient consultation followed by the 15-minute examiner oral. In Stage 1, gather a systematic dental, medical, social and dietary history; in Stage 2, interpret the periapical, bitewing or panoramic radiographs, BPE and 6-point periodontal chart, state a clear tooth-by-tooth prognosis and present a phased treatment plan (stabilisation, prevention, definitive restorative/prosthodontic care and maintenance).

4. 4

   Drill UK dental prescribing, cross-infection control and radiography regulations

   Practise answering examiner viva questions out loud using the Dental Practitioners' Formulary (DPF), SDCEP Drug Prescribing for Dentistry and Antimicrobial Prescribing guidance, HTM 01-05 decontamination standards, and IR(ME)R 2017 radiation protection roles and justification criteria.

5. 5

   Speak through Medical Emergencies using an ABCDE structure

   For the 15-minute Medical Emergencies component, rehearse calling for help, assessing the patient with an ABCDE approach, and stating the Resuscitation Council UK and BNF Dental Practitioners' Formulary emergency drug routes and regimens for anaphylaxis, adrenal crisis, acute asthma, hypoglycaemia, angina, myocardial infarction, status epilepticus, syncope and choking.

6. 6

   Practise ethics, Montgomery consent and GDC Duty of Candour scenarios

   Rehearse explaining iatrogenic complications (such as a separated endodontic file, oro-antral communication or wrong-tooth extraction) openly under GDC Duty of Candour guidance, and counselling patients empathetically on urgent two-week-wait suspected oral cancer referrals.

Official resources

• GDC: ORE Part 2 candidate information

  The General Dental Council's overview of the four ORE Part 2 components, sitting structure and candidate requirements.

• GDC: Preparing for Practice

  The learning outcomes for UK dental registration against which ORE Part 2 stations are blueprinted.

• GDC: Standards for the Dental Team

  The professional and ethical standards on consent, confidentiality, candour, complaints and patient safety tested across OSCE and DTP stations.

Questions candidates ask

Sources

• General Dental Council: ORE Part 2
• General Dental Council: Preparing for Practice
• General Dental Council: Standards for the Dental Team

Checked on 24 October 2026.