National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Master of Dental Surgery [NEET-MDS]
National Level, Entrance Exam
National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Master of Dental Surgery
National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Master of Dental Surgery (NEET-MDS) 2026
NEET-MDS 2026
[National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Master of Dental Surgery 2026]
conducted by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS)
Admission to Post Graduate Dental Courses (MDS/PG Diploma), 2026
NEET-MDS is an eligibility-cum-ranking examination prescribed as the single entrance examination for admission to various MDS Courses under Dentists Act, 1948 (amended from time to time). A candidate for admission to the Master in Dental Surgery course, must possess a recognised degree of Bachelor in Dental Surgery awarded by a university or institute in India and registered with the State Dental Council and has obtained provisional or permanent registration and has undergone compulsory rotatory internship of a year in an approved/recognised dental college.
NEET-MDS is the single eligibility cum entrance examination for admission to MDS Courses which will include the following:
All India 50% quota MDS seats for all States/Union territories of India.
State quota seats for all States/Union territories of India.
MDS Courses at all Private Dental Colleges, Institutions & Universities all across the country.
MDS Courses at Armed Forces Medical Services Institutions.
Screening exam for dental surgeons (BDS & MDS) for Short Service Commission in Army Dental Corps.
The following dental institutions are not covered by centralized admissions for MDS seats through NEET-MDS:
No State Government/Private Dental College/Universities shall be conducting any separate entrance for admission to their MDS Courses.
Important Dates
Processes
Timelines
Online submission of application form
14/03/2026 (03:00 P.M. onwards) to 30/03/2026 (till 11:55 P.M.)
Edit Window (Any information/documents can be edited except Name, Nationality, Email, Mobile number, Aadhaar Number and Test City) Note: Edit window is provided for all PaymentSuccess applications
04/04/2026 to 06/04/2026
Final Selective Edit Window to rectify Deficient/Incorrect Images • Photograph • Signatures • Thumb Impression (No further opportunity shall be given)
21/04/2026 to 22/04/2026
Test City intimation
22/04/2026
Issue of Admit Cards
29/04/2026
Examination Date
02/05/2026
Cut-off date for completion of internship towards eligibility for NEET-MDS 2026
30/05/2026
Declaration of Result
By 02/06/2026
Examination Fee
Category of Candidate
Examination Fee*
General, OBC and EWS
Rs. 3,500/-
SC, ST and PWD
Rs. 2,500/-
* Excluding charges as may be applicable by various payment gateways.
Applications forms once submitted cannot be withdrawn. Fee shall neither be carried forward to a future date nor refunded under any circumstances. Any claim for refund, adjustment or carrying forward of Application fee will not be entertained.
How to pay: The prescribed exam fee should be remitted through payment gateway provided using a Credit Card/Debit Card issued by banks in India/UPI or other modes as may be made available and have been provided on the web page. Fee cannot be deposited through any mode other than the payment gateway available while submitting online application form submission.
The eligibility criteria for admission to MDS Courses is as follows:
A candidate for admission to the Master in Dental Surgery course, must possess a recognized degree of Bachelor in Dental Surgery awarded by a university or institute in India and registered with the State Dental Council and has obtained provisional or permanent registration and has undergone compulsory rotatory internship of a year in an approved / recognized dental college.
A candidate who after passing the final qualifying examination (BDS or the foreign dental degree recognized by GoI / DCI), is undergoing 12-month compulsory rotatory internship / practical training and is likely to complete the same by 31/05/2026 can take up this examination, but he / she shall not be eligible for admission unless he / she has completed the compulsory rotatory internship and obtained provisional or permanent registration on or before by 31/05/2026 or the candidate produces a certificate from the head of Institution that he / she will be completing internship by by 31/05/2026.
The dates indicated by candidates with regard to 12 months Compulsory Rotatory Resident Internship i.e. starting date, completion date, shall be treated as final and candidates will be required to submit the original Compulsory Rotatory Resident Internship completion certificate at the time of counseling. No condonation of internship of 12 months period shall be accepted except
(i) the students of the batch admitted during academic session 2007-08 and have completed 4 ½ year BDS course along with 06 months compulsory rotating internship and
(ii) the students admitted during the academic session 2006-07 at Rajah Muthiah Dental College, Annamalai University those have completed 05 years BDS course without internship.
Candidates found to be ineligible at any stage of NEET-MDS 2026 will not be permitted to appear in the examination and / or counseling. In an unlikely event of any ineligible candidate appearing and / or being successful in the NEET-MDS 2026, the results / candidature of such candidate shall be cancelled and/or are deemed to be cancelled.
Requests for appearing in NEET-MDS 2026 from candidates completing internship after 31/05/2026 or having qualifications that are not recognized as per Dentists Act shall be summarily rejected. Candidates are further advised not to canvass for the same.
Some of the Universities / institutions are having regulations that candidates who are already pursuing the PG Course in their University or in another University are not eligible for admission till they complete the course. The candidates who are already pursuing PG Dental Courses either through All India Quota or State Quota and are applying for a seat under All India Quota may confirm the eligibility conditions of that University in this regard. NBEMS / MCC / MoHFW shall not be responsible if such candidates are denied admission. Such candidates may opt for the subject and the college at their own risk and cost.
Eligibility of candidates issued admit card for the examination shall be purely provisional. Appearing in NEET-MDS 2026 does not confer any automatic rights upon the candidate for admission to MDS courses.
Eligibility Criteria for all India 50% Quota Seats:
The eligibility criteria for All India 50% quota seats is as per para (i) & (ii) (vide supra).
Candidates who have studied / passed BDS from the UT of Jammu & Kashmir are also eligible for participation in counseling for 50% All India Quota seats. These candidates shall also be eligible for participation in ‘Grant of Short Service Commission in Army Dental Corps’ and for MDS admissions in Armed Forces Institutes.
Eligibility Criteria for Foreign Nationals:
Their basic Dental Qualification equivalent to BDS should be recognized by the Dental Council of India.
Foreign Nationals desirous of appearing in NEET-MDS and those, who are required to have security clearance as per the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) requirements, shall obtain the security clearance from Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India before applying for NEET-MDS examination. The security clearance shall be required to be submitted while applying for NEET-MDS examination.
The Dental Council of India may, on payment of the prescribed fee for registration, grant temporary registration for the duration of the Post Graduate course limited to the dental college / institution to which he / she is admitted for the time being exclusively for pursuing postgraduate studies. Provided further that temporary registration to such foreign national shall be subject to the condition that such person is duly registered with appropriate registering authority in his own country where from he has obtained his Basic Dental qualification, and is duly recognized by the corresponding Dental Council or concerned authority and Permission / No Objection Certificate from the dental council of that country to allow undertaking Post Graduation in India has also been obtained.
Candidates are advised not to canvass with NBEMS for eligibility in NEET-MDS or issuance of admit card. Queries, if any, can be submitted through Communication Web Portal only. Canvassing in any form shall invite rejection of the application.
NEET-MDS 2026 shall be conducted in a single day & single session as a computer-based examination on 02/05/2026.
Syllabus: The syllabus for the exam shall be that of BDS standard and shall cover all the subjects / syllabus taught during the BDS course as prescribed in the DCI Revised BDS Course Regulations, 2007 as amended from time to time.
The examination shall be a multiple-choice questions test delivered using computers network (CBT) as per scheme prescribed.
The exam comprises of 240 Multiple Choice Questions with each question having 4 response options / distractors in English language only. Candidates are required to select the correct / best / most appropriate response / answer out of the 4 response options provided in each question. Time allotted is 03hrs.
The question paper for NEET-MDS 2026 will be divided into two time-bound Parts (A & B) in the question paper. Part A will consist of 100 questions with 75 minutes allotted, while Part B will consist of 140 questions with 105 minutes allotted. Candidates will not be able to proceed to the next part until the allotted time for the current part has elapsed. Once the time for a part is over, candidates will not be permitted to review its questions or modify their responses. The next part will begin automatically after the completion of the allotted time for the previous part.
There shall be 25% negative marking for incorrect answers. No marks will be deducted for unattempted questions.
Marking Scheme: Allocation of marks for each MCQ shall be as follows:
Sl. No.
Response
Marks
1
Correct Response
4 Marks
2
Incorrect Response
1 Mark shall be deducted
3
Unattempted Question
Zero
During the examination candidates are given an option to mark any question, whether attempted or not, for review which means that candidate has been given an option to go through these questions again before the examination time ends. Candidates may note that such questions which are marked for review shall be evaluated as per the marking scheme mentioned above.
Allocation of time for NEET-MDS 2026 shall be as follows:
Activities
Time
Allow Candidates to enter the examination centre and Commence Registration for the test
12:00 P.M.
Entry closes at Examination Center
01:30 P.M.
Grant access for Candidate Login
01:45 P.M.
Candidates log in to read instructions
01:50 P.M.
Exam Start Time
02:00 P.M.
Exam End Time
05:00 P.M.
Overview of Computer Based Test:
Online Application Form Submission
Demo Test (At NBEMS Website)
Issuance of Admit Card
Reporting at Test Centre on Scheduled Date & Time
Security Check-in Process
Registration for Test + Face ID & Biometric Capture
Examination begins
During Exam Face ID/Biometric Verification
Examination Ends
Subject-wise distribution of Questions:
Sl. No.
Subject
Number of Questions
Part-A (Total 100)
1
General Anatomy including embryology and histology
14
2
General Human Physiology and Biochemistry
14
3
Dental Anatomy, Embryology & Oral Histology
14
4
General Pathology and Microbiology
14
5
General and Dental Pharmacology and Therapeutics
14
6
General Medicine
15
7
General Surgery
15
Part-B (Total 140)
1
Dental Materials
14
2
Oral Pathology and Oral Microbiology
14
3
Oral Medicine and Radiology
14
4
Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry
14
5
Orthodontics & Dentofacial Orthopedics
14
6
Periodontology
14
7
Prosthodontics and Crown & Bridge
14
8
Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics
14
9
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
14
10
Public Health Dentistry
14
Grand Total (Part A + Part B)
240
NOTE: The syllabus of the above topics shall be as per the latest Regulations for BDS courses notified by the Dental Council of India with prior approval of the Govt. of India. For the latest syllabus and other details please refer website of the Dental Council of India, www.dciindia.gov.in.
Please read the Information Bulletin for NEET-MDS 2026 carefully before you start filling the application form.
Read the below instructions carefully, before filling up the form:
Kindly do not fill the application form using mobile phone/devices.
The Candidate has to first "register" to receive the User ID and Password.
Candidate will receive the User ID and Password on the registered email address and/or on the registered mobile number.
After successful registration, candidate can login with the User ID and Password to complete the application form.
Candidate must provide Name, Date of Birth, Nationality, Mobile Number, Email Address & Test City correctly as these details cannot be changed once the registration is completed.
CONTACT:
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