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Dental Assistant Practice Test: Free DANB CDA General Chairside (GC) Exam Questions

194 practice questions for the General Chairside Assisting (GC) exam, the chairside part of the Certified Dental Assistant (CDA) certification. They follow the GC outline's four areas, weighted the way the exam is: Chairside Dentistry (50%), Evaluation (17%), Patient Management and Administration (17%) and Dental Materials (16%), and cover every topic under them. Most are moments at the chair: which way the Tofflemire slot faces, where the HVE tip goes on the lower left, what a positive aspiration means, what to do for a patient who faints at the sight of the syringe, how to mix stone or why eugenol and composite don't mix. Use the switch above for the Radiation Health and Safety (RHS) and Infection Control (ICE) exams, the other two parts of the CDA. Each question is tagged to its outline area, so your score report shows exactly where you miss, and every answer names its public source.

The real test: 95 multiple-choice questions in 75 minutes, at a Pearson VUE test center or by live remote proctoring. It is computer adaptive and scored from 100 to 900, with 400 to pass, so there is no fixed percent. It is one of the three exams for the Certified Dental Assistant (CDA) certification, with Radiation Health and Safety (RHS) and Infection Control (ICE), all passed within five years. It follows the GC outline: Chairside Dentistry 50%, Evaluation 17%, Patient Management and Administration 17% and Dental Materials 16%. Our practice test is full length, 95 questions split by the outline weights, passing at 70% (67 of 95).

Here: 194 questions. Our own practice questions, built on DANB's public General Chairside Assisting (GC) exam outline and written from public sources (CDC, OSHA, the ADA/FDA radiography recommendations, FDA, NRC, EPA, NIH StatPearls, open-access dental research and US Army dental specialist courses), with every answer's source named. Topics are the 4 areas of the outline. Not DANB's test questions. Free.

What's on the test

"On the test" is the rough share of a 95-question test for each topic, following the exam's published weights.

10 sample questions

1. You take a new patient's blood pressure before a cleaning and get 134/86 mm Hg. Which category does that reading fall in?

   • A.Normal blood pressure for an adult
   • B.Hypertensive crisis, so call 911
   • C.Stage 1 hypertension
   • D.Elevated, but not yet hypertension
   Show answer

   C. Stage 1 hypertension

   GC-1 · I. Evaluation

2. What is the tell-show-do approach with a nervous child?

   • A.Do the procedure quickly before the child can get upset
   • B.Tell the parent everything and leave the child out of it
   • C.Show the child the needle first so there are no surprises later
   • D.Explain a step in simple words, demonstrate it, then do it
   Show answer

   D. Explain a step in simple words, demonstrate it, then do it

   GC-34 · II. Patient Management and Administration

3. Before seating the next patient, which surfaces in the treatment room should get a fresh barrier or be cleaned and disinfected?

   • A.Clinical contact surfaces such as light handles, switches and the chair controls
   • B.Only the walls behind the chair, which collect aerosol from the handpiece
   • C.None, as long as the last patient did not look sick or have a cold
   • D.Only the floor around the chair, since that is where most spatter lands
   Show answer

   A. Clinical contact surfaces such as light handles, switches and the chair controls

   GC-67 · III. Chairside Dentistry

4. Alginate is called an irreversible hydrocolloid. What does 'irreversible' mean here?

   • A.Once it sets by chemical reaction, it can't be turned back into a paste
   • B.It sets only after it's heated in a water bath and then cooled in the tray
   • C.It never changes shape at all once it's out of the patient's mouth
   • D.It can be reheated and reused for the next patient after disinfection
   Show answer

   A. Once it sets by chemical reaction, it can't be turned back into a paste

   GC-164 · IV. Dental Materials

5. Where should the patient's arm be when you take a blood pressure with a cuff?

   • A.Hanging straight down at the side of the chair to fill the vein
   • B.Resting on the lap with the sleeve rolled tightly above the cuff
   • C.Raised above the head so the brachial artery is easy to feel
   • D.Supported at about heart level, with the cuff on bare skin
   Show answer

   D. Supported at about heart level, with the cuff on bare skin

   GC-2 · I. Evaluation

6. A patient 8 months pregnant feels dizzy and nauseated lying back in the chair. What is happening, and what helps?

   • A.She is hyperventilating; have her breathe into a paper bag slowly
   • B.The uterus is pressing on the vena cava; tilt her onto her left side
   • C.She is having a low blood sugar; give her a glass of orange juice
   • D.She is fainting from fear; lower her head well below the level of her knees
   Show answer

   B. The uterus is pressing on the vena cava; tilt her onto her left side

   GC-35 · II. Patient Management and Administration

7. Why should the patient's health history and current images be reviewed and up on screen before the patient is seated?

   • A.So the team can plan safely and avoid touching records with gloved hands
   • B.Because the x-ray unit won't turn on until the chart is opened
   • C.So the front desk can bill the visit before treatment starts
   • D.So the patient can read over the dentist's notes while they wait in the chair
   Show answer

   A. So the team can plan safely and avoid touching records with gloved hands

   GC-68 · III. Chairside Dentistry

8. The office is warm and the alginate is setting too fast to seat the tray. What can the assistant change on the next mix?

   • A.Mix it much longer to slow the set
   • B.Use warmer water to slow the set
   • C.Use cooler water to slow the set
   • D.Add extra powder to slow the set
   Show answer

   C. Use cooler water to slow the set

   GC-165 · IV. Dental Materials

9. What is the normal resting pulse range for an adult patient?

   • A.12 to 20 beats a minute
   • B.60 to 100 beats a minute
   • C.40 to 60 beats a minute
   • D.100 to 140 beats a minute
   Show answer

   B. 60 to 100 beats a minute

   GC-3 · I. Evaluation

10. Why do you raise an older patient's chair slowly and have them sit a moment before standing at the end of a visit?

    • A.To give the patient time to sign the consent forms at the chair
    • B.To prevent dizziness or a fall from a sudden drop in blood pressure
    • C.To give the cement on a new crown extra time to finish setting
    • D.Because an older patient's back muscles can't support sitting up quickly
    Show answer

    B. To prevent dizziness or a fall from a sudden drop in blood pressure

    GC-36 · II. Patient Management and Administration

What the study guide does

• Short study rounds and flip cards.
• A practice test built like the real one: 95 questions, 67 to pass.
• Pass Meter: your chance of passing if you sat the test today, worked out from your own answers.
• An explanation for every answer.