The Dental Assisting National Board’s (DANB) Infection Control (ICE) exam is one of three components of the Certified Dental Assistant (CDA) certification program. The ICE exam ensures individuals meet the national standard for knowledge-based competence in national infection control practices.
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Infection Control Exam Outline
The DANB ICE exam contains 80 multiple-choice questions and has a time limit of 1 hour.
The exam is split into four content domains:
I. Prevention of Disease Transmission (20%)
The topics covered in this domain include:
- Infectious diseases
- Reviewing medical history for transmissible diseases
- Hand hygiene
- Personal protective equipment (PPE)
- Minimizing contact with droplets, aerosols, and spatter
II. Prevention of Cross-contamination (34%)
The topics covered in this domain include:
- Cleaning and disinfecting treatment areas
- Cleaning and disinfecting radiography equipment
- Cleaning and maintaining evacuation lines and traps
- Preparing and using chemical disinfectants
- Disposing of biohazardous waste
- Preparing tray setups
- Using surface barriers
- Disinfecting impressions and dental appliances
- Monitoring and maintaining dental unit water lines
III. Process Instruments and Devices (26%)
The topics covered in this domain include:
- Processing instruments and devices
- Monitoring and maintaining processing equipment
IV. Occupational Safety and Administration Protocols (20%)
The topics covered in this domain include:
- Occupational safety regulations, guidelines, and standards
- Documenting and maintaining policies and programs for infection prevention control and safety
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Infection Control Exam Registration
To register for the exam, you must submit an application and pay the $270 exam fee. DANB reviews your application within four weeks and will notify you if you are determined eligible.
Once your application is approved, you will have 60 days to register for either the in-person exam or the remote exam.
Test Day
In-person Testing
On the day of the exam, you should arrive at the testing center 15-30 minutes before your exam appointment. After storing your belongings in a locker, the facilitator will verify your ID and take your photo and digital signature. Your digital signature must match the signature on your ID.
Before the exam begins, you will be given a short tutorial on the testing system to familiarize yourself with the formatting and computer. Once the tutorial is complete, the exam will begin.
During the exam, you can take breaks as needed, but your time on break counts against your allotted testing time.
Remote Testing
You should log in to your Pearson VUE account to start the check-in process up to 30 minutes before your testing appointment. Before signing in, turn off any pop-up browser blockers and download the testing software.
From this point, you will be asked to conduct a system test and connect with your assigned proctor. The proctor will verify your identity using your government-issued ID and ask you to scan your surroundings using your webcam.
Once your exam begins, you cannot take breaks or leave the view of the webcam at any time. Your focus must be on the computer monitor, and other people must be out of your testing space while you take the exam.
How the Infection Control Exam is Scored
If you take the exam at a testing center, you will receive a preliminary pass or fail status at the end of your exam. If you take the exam by a remote proctor, you will receive a link to the initial results.
This exam is computer-adaptive, so depending on your performance, the difficulty of your test will increase or decrease as you go on.
Here’s a look at how it works:
The first question is judged to be of medium difficulty, and depending on your performance, the next question may be easier or harder. If you do well in the first question, the second question will be harder; conversely, if you do poorly on the first question, the second question will be easy.
The questions on the exam are rated on a scale of 100-999. The higher a question is rated, the harder the question is (e.g., a question marked as 519 will be more difficult than a question marked 365).
To pass the DANB ICE exam, your final question must be on or above the 400 mark. If your final question is below this mark, you will not pass the exam, even if you have answered some questions above the 400 mark at some point during the exam. This is because the computer has rated the difficulty of your final question based on how you answered the previous questions.
If you passed, your official exam results are provided by DANB within one to three weeks after taking the exam by mail. Your score report is uploaded to your online account if you did not pass.
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FAQs
Q
How many questions are on the DANB ICE exam?
A
There are 80 multiple-choice questions on the exam.
Q
How long is the DANB ICE exam?
A
The time limit for this exam is 1 hour.
Q
What is the passing score for the DANB ICE exam?
A
To pass the exam, you must achieve a scaled score of at least 400.
Q
How much does the DANB ICE exam cost?
A
The examination fee is $270.
