The UofT Dentistry program is one of ten dental programs in Canada and is considered the second-best dental school in Canada.
In 2022, the UofT dental school acceptance rate was 14%. Of the 675 undergraduate students that applied, only 96 were admitted into the program. The UofT dental school requirements and admission statistics are categorized here in the priority of what an applicant must submit to be considered:
Academic
- Pre-requisite courses
- Minimum number of years of undergraduate study required
- GPA
Non-Academic
- Dentistry Admission Test (DAT)
- CASPer Test
- Personal Statement/ Essays
- Interview
UofT Dental School Requirements: Prerequisite Courses
All students applying to UofT Dentistry must have completed at least 3 years of undergraduate study. They must include the following courses:
| Prerequisite Course | Required | Lab Required | Credits Required |
| Life Sciences * | ✓ | X | 2 full or 4 half courses |
| General Biochemistry | ✓ | X | 1 full or 2 half courses |
| Physiology | ✓ | X | 1 full or 2 half courses |
| Humanities or Social Sciences | ✓ | X | 1 full or 2 half courses |
University of Toronto Dentistry Requirements: GPA Calculation and Requirements
| Minimum GPA to Apply | Average GPA of accepted applicants | Lowest GPA Admitted |
| 3.0 | 3.94 | 3.85 |
When calculating your GPA the worst academic year will be dropped from the calculation of an applicant’s cumulative grade point average provided that (a) the applicant has completed four or more years of university education by May 31st of the proposed year of entry, and (b) the year with the lowest grades is not the most recent year of study.
Courses taken in the academic year, during the application process, will not be included in the calculation of the applicant’s cumulative GPA.
You are allowed up to 1 full-course equivalent which can be a credit without a grade; eg. “Pass” credit.
All university courses taken are used in the calculation of the admission GPA, except for what is stated above.
UofT Dentistry Requirements: Dental Aptitude Test (DAT) and CASPer
DAT and CASPer Overview:
DAT Admission Score Statistics:
| Mean Academic Average Score | Minimum Academic Average Score Given Admission | Mean Perceptual Ability Test | Minimum Perceptual Ability Score Given Admission |
| 22.0 | 18.0 | 21.0 | 16.0 |
CASPer Test: The Canadian Professional Health Sciences test (CSP-10201) must be taken between August – November in the year of application submission. Although UofT has not publically stated this, based on the stats of previous applicants, it is believed that the CASPer is used as a cutoff where applicants in the lower quartiles get screened out.
Dental Aptitude Test: The DAT must be taken within 24 months of the application deadline of Nov.1. Your Survey of Natural Sciences (SNS), Perceptual Ability Test (PAT), and Reading Comprehension Test (RCT) will be used by the admission team. If an applicant has completed the DAT more than once in the 24-month window your highest overall score will be used when calculations are made. The Manual Dexterity (MDT) section of the DAT is no longer required by this university.
Students looking to test their knowledge in preparation for the DAT can click on this link to access our free practice tests for both the Canadian DAT and American DAT. For those looking for DAT prep courses, we recommend those offered by the Princeton Review. They are a reputable long-standing company that offers a variety of different course options to meet individual needs.
Autobiographical Sketch and Personal Statements:
UofT Dental school applicants are required to complete an autobiographical sketch and personal statement. It includes two sections:
- Max. 2 pages on why you are pursuing a career in dentistry
- Max. 1 page on your greatest accomplishment and the reasons you chose it
University of Toronto Dental School Interview:
| Mandatory | By Invitation | Number of Applicants Invited | Entering Class Size |
| ✓ | ✓ | 180 | 96 |
Shortlisted candidates will be required to partake in a traditional interview with the UofT admissions team. The interview process for the UofT Dental School is as follows:
- Two faculty members will conduct a 30-minute interview.
- The Faculty Registrar will outline the admission decision process.
- Current dental students will do a 30-minute tour of the dental school.
- Question and Answer session with senior dental students and the Dean.
Those looking for practice can check our posts on both MMI Practice Questions and Standard Interview Practice Questions here.
UofT Dentistry Offers of Admission Decision:
University of Toronto’s offers for admission for dental school will be based upon a mix of academic achievement, DAT scores, CASPer test scores, essays and results of the interview process.
UofT does not disclose the information about how each of the admission requirements are combined in the decision making process.
The Admission Committee does take all of the above-mentioned requirements into consideration when making their final decision.
Requirements for other Dental Schools in Canada:
If you would like an in-depth analysis of the dental school requirements for other dental schools in Canada click on the links below:
- University of Western Ontario (UWO) Dental School Requirements
- University of Alberta Dental (UofA) School Requirements
- University of Manitoba (UofM) Dental School Requirements
- University of British Columbia (UBC) Dental School Requirements
- University of Saskatchewan (UofS) Dental School Requirements
- Université Laval Dental School Requirements
- McGill University Dental School Requirements
- Université de Montréal (UdeM) Dental School Requirements
- Dalhousie (Dal) University Dental School Requirements
We also have a comprehensive comparison of all 10 dental school requirements in Canada.
Can students put one “PASS” notation in one of the course requirements ( i.e one half-year course of philosophy, for humanites)?
Yes, you are allowed up to 1 full-course equivalent which can be a credit without a grade. If your official transcript says that you passed the course it will count! Best of luck
Is kin a suitable degree considering the physical movements that might affect the hands tangibility?
Hi Fate! If you are asking if a kin degree is suitable as an undergrad degree before applying for dental school we cannot say with certainty if it is or isn’t. This is because this is largely dependent on the courses offered in the degree. Your university will outline all the courses and electives available for your degree. If these courses meet the requirements of the UofT dental school then this will work! As long as you meet the courses in the above list it will not matter what degree you get.
Hi,
If I audit a course as a course overload, does that count towards the credit without grade?
Thanks for all this information! 🙂
No this does not count since auditing a course does not give you a credit. It is as if you never took the course.
How essential is having done research from an applicant’s competitive standpoint in being accepted to UofT. I have a considerable amount of shadowing and EC’s participation, however no research experience. Will this be debilitating with respect to the application process and for the potential chance of receiving an offer of admission?
Hi JP! We cannot answer this definitely as we do not personally oversee the application process. That being said there have been many students who have gotten into dental school without research experience. There is no clear-cut list of extracurricular activities or lack of extracurricular activities that will assure/debilitate your entry into the school. Reviewers will take a holistic view of all applicants that meet the minimum criteria for application.
I wann know more on dentistry requirements and tuition fees
Dental school costs can be found here https://masterstudent.ca/dental-school-costs-in-canada/. Dental school requirements can be found here https://masterstudent.ca/requirements-for-dental-schools-in-canada/
Hi! I noticed you have the “Minimum Academic Average Score Given Admission” and “Minimum PAT Score Given Admission”. Do you mind sharing where this information is from as I couldnt it on the Uoft site
Hi Keeran. Information like this is not published by individual universities but can usually be found in documents published by the American Dental Education Association.
if I drop a course will it negatively reflect on my applications for all dental Schools? if not all which ones?
Is there a requirement that applicants carry a full course load? Can someone take 4 courses one semester and 5 courses the next semester without being looked down on by dental schools?
Hi,
Can you provide a link to where it says you are allowed up to 1 full-course equivalent which can be a credit without a grade? I am thinking of converting one of my grades last term to a credit but I couldn’t find this information on their website.
Thanks!
Thanks for your question! The information regarding pass/fail courses was provided to the MasterStudent team via email correspondence with the UofT admissions team during the 2020 application cycle. Although we are confident that this will continue to be the case for upcoming cycles, we recommend emailing admissions@dentistry.utoronto.ca if you want to confirm that this is still the case! All the best.
can it be one of the prerequisite courses that i am taking? like i need 1.0 biochem courses and have already completed 0.5, can i take the other 0.5 and make it a discovery credit?
Hi, I completed first year at a university and I got passing grades which is obviously not good. After I transferred to another university but due to my circumstances they put me as first year in my new university and I had to start all over + repeat the courses I took at my old university. If I pursue dentistry in the future does my old school count or no? (it says on my transcript that I am a transfer student but I started all over)
Hi Mary. The University of Toronto dental school requires an official transcript from all universities attended and the grades from each one. As far as we are aware, both your universities will count towards your application.
Hi, If I failed a course during the 3 years that are counted for and I retook the course and did good on it (my GPA is good as per the requirements). Does this have an impact on me being able to go to dentistry?
Hi, I am interested in the dental school at U of T. But I heard that it is super complicated to bump up the GPA that the dental school asked for throughout the period of undergraduate schooling at U of T. Is that true and how to reach a high GPA at U of T? Thanks
Hi! If I took one full year course called “Anatomy and Physiology for Human Health”, could that course count as either a physiology or life science course?
Hi Luna from our understanding this is the case. However, please email admissions@dentistry.utoronto.ca to confirm
Does UofT DDS program require full course load for the three years of university education that they want?
Also, do they calculate GPA from 5 courses per semester or 30 credits per year?
Hi, what does a full year course mean? Does that mean 1 full semester or something more?
Thanks!
Isaac
A full year course is a 2 semesters long
Can a 3 yrs advance diploma be considered as undergraduate course or one should again take a undergraduate course even after having 3yrs advance diploma completed ?
in your opinion how does transferring universities looked upon in admission of dental schools in Canada?
Most likely it won’t matter. In the eyes of Canadian Professional Schools, all Universities are essentially treated equally in terms of courses and programs. And there are many reasons why someone may want to transfer that are completely unrelated to their academic abilities.
Does the 1 full-course equivalent P/F rule apply to only allowing 1.0 P/F per year? Or is it 1.0 P/F for the entirety of your university career?
Hi, I’m from a school in the United States. Do you know how the GPA conversion works? Also, is the 3.94 average admitted GPA after being converted by the OMSAS grading scale? Thanks
Hi Lindsay! 3.94 is the GPA admitted average taken from all courses, with exceptions for 4th-year students as described above. OMSAS is for Ontario Medical Schools and is not applicable in this case.
Hi, do you know if you need to have completed the science prereqs during ur undergrad degree? or can you graduate and finish the courses after and then apply?
Hi,
I’m not someone who’s necessarily credible to answer this question but based on my research and previous understanding, I’m decently confident that as long as you fulfill the prerequisite requirements before applying, you should be fine. In other words, no, it doesn’t matter if you complete the courses during your undergrad or after you graduate. Hope this might help.
Regards,
Nina
Hello Sasha,
As long as you complete the requisites before May of the year you’re applying you will be good to go!
“You are allowed up to 1 full-course equivalent which can be a credit without a grade; eg. “Pass” credit.” Does this mean I can attribute 1-full course to just a “pass” and not have it be reduced to the grade I received? Like if I do poorly in one of my classes, I can label it as just a “pass”?
Hi, so if you were going into dentistry, as an undergraduate student, what major would you have to sign up for at UofT and what course?
Hi Kane! It doesn’t matter which major you are in! All that matters is that you take the courses listed in the requirements section at the top of this blog post!
Hi. I’m grade 12 and I got in into Uoft and Dal. I want to go to UofT Dental School after undergrad. I heard that getting high gpa in Uoft is really challenging. Should I just go to Dal?
GPA is king. Go wherever you think you can get the highest GPA