QCHP Endodontics Exam 2026: Blueprint, Fee & Steps
Medical exams / QCHP Qatar / QCHP Endodontics exam guide
QCHP Endodontics Exam Quick Summary
The QCHP Endodontics exam is one of eight dental specialty exams that Qatar's Department of Healthcare Professions (DHP) runs through Prometric: 150 MCQs with a 65% cut score and a fee of USD 244 in 2026. It is for dentists whose specialty degree is in DHP's Category 3; Category 1 and 2 holders are exempt. DHP publishes an official blueprint with the weight of every topic.
Specialist dentists who want to work in Qatar are licensed by the Department of Healthcare Professions (DHP), still widely called QCHP. Since Circular DHP/2024/19, holders of some specialty degrees must pass a specialty qualifying exam. This guide covers who sits the Endodontics exam, its official blueprint, how to prepare and what happens after you pass.
On this page
Who sits the QCHP Endodontics exam
DHP licenses specialist dentists according to their postgraduate degree, using its approved specialty qualifications list for dentists:
| DHP category | Experience after the degree | Qualifying exam |
|---|---|---|
| Category 1 | None required | Not required |
| Category 2 | Two years of licensed clinical work | Not required |
| Category 2 with asterisks | Three years of licensed clinical work | Not required |
| Category 3 | As set in DHP's Guidelines for Dentists | Must pass the Endodontics exam |
If your degree is on DHP's list but you have not yet completed the experience your category needs, DHP licenses you as a General Dentist, and you can apply for privileges in your specialty. An overseas dentist whose postgraduate degree is not on the list cannot be licensed as a specialist. Check your exact degree title and awarding body in the list before you apply.
Who is exempt from the QCHP Endodontics exam
- Holders of Category 1 and 2 specialty qualifications.
- Qatari nationals, children of Qatari mothers, and graduates of public or private universities and higher education institutions in Qatar (Circular DHP/2025/24).
See our guide to DHP Qatar exam exemption criteria for the rules in other professions.
How to apply, step by step
Read DHP's Guidelines for Dentists and confirm your qualification and experience meet the rules for the Endodontics specialist title.
Applications go through DHP's Registration and Licensing System at dhpportal.moph.gov.qa, usually together with a Qatar employer or prospective employer.
DataFlow or QuadraBay, the two providers DHP approves, verify your degree, experience, licence and good standing directly with the issuing bodies.
Once DHP approves you to sit the exam, book it on Prometric's Qatar DHP page under exam code SCHQ2, at an international Prometric centre or the Doha centre on C Ring Road.
When you pass and your evaluation is approved, your employing facility completes the licensing step with DHP.
Documents to prepare
Your verification provider and DHP's evaluation team work from the same set of papers. Have clear scans of these ready:
- Dental degree and transcripts
- Specialty degree or board certificate, with residency or training certificates
- Experience certificates with dates and job titles
- Licences covering those years
- Certificate of good standing from your licensing authority
- Passport, a recent photograph and a CV on DHP's template
Most delays come from experience letters without exact dates, or licences that do not cover the whole period, so check these first.
Official QCHP Endodontics blueprint
DHP's specialty dentist blueprint gives the share of the 150 questions for each area of endodontics:
Every dental specialty exam also includes patient safety and professionalism and ethics, each worth 5%. Pass marks for every profession are in our article on the DHP Qatar exam passing score and duration.
A 10-week study plan for the QCHP Endodontics exam
| Weeks | Focus | Daily target |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2 | Diagnosis, treatment planning and pulp biology | 30 MCQs and one classic paper |
| 3 to 4 | Emergencies, mishaps and pharmacology | 30 MCQs |
| 5 to 6 | Surgical endodontics and dental trauma | 30 MCQs and trauma guidelines |
| 7 | Regenerative endodontics, medically compromised patients | 30 MCQs |
| 8 | Classic and current literature (20% of the paper) | Two to three papers a day |
| 9 | Two full 150-question timed mocks | Review each mock the next day |
| 10 | Weak areas, then a final mock | Book once you score comfortably above 65% |
DHP reference books for the Endodontics exam
These titles come from DHP's own reference list for the exam. Use the latest edition of each:
- Cohen's Pathways of the Pulp
- Ingle's Endodontics
- Seltzer and Bender's Dental Pulp
- Surgical Endodontics (Gutmann and Harrison)
- Dental Management of the Medically Compromised Patient (Little)
- DHP's folder of classic articles and assigned current topics
- Professionalism and Ethics Handbook for Residents, and Essentials of Patient Safety
Sample QCHP Endodontics exam MCQs
These five questions come from the free trial of our QCHP Endodontics QBank, covering different parts of endodontics. Tap a question to see the answer and explanation.
An endodontist is planning obturation of the mesiobuccal canal of tooth 36, which has a 30-degree curvature in the middle third and a thin root on CBCT. The canal is prepared to 30/.04. The practice usually uses cold lateral compaction with stainless steel hand spreaders. Which change best reduces the risk of vertical root fracture while still allowing good apical compaction in this canal?A. Use a larger stainless steel spreader with fewer accessory conesB. Use a nickel-titanium finger spreaderC. Use a stainless steel spreader with heavier apical force for a shorter timeD. Use a stainless steel spreader pre-bent to the curvature
Answer: B. Use a nickel-titanium finger spreader
Explanation: In lateral compaction the spreader acts as a wedge, and excessive force is a recognised cause of vertical root fracture, especially in thin, curved or oval roots such as mesial roots of mandibular molars. Nickel-titanium finger spreaders are more flexible, so they follow the curve and penetrate deeper (closer to working length) with less force; laboratory studies (e.g. Berry et al. 1998) found deeper penetration than stainless steel in curved canals and lower wedging stresses on dentine.
A 47-year-old woman is planned for apical surgery on tooth 46 because of a persistent lesion on the mesial root after good retreatment. The resident wants to know where the inferior alveolar neurovascular bundle usually lies in the buccolingual plane as it passes from the molar region to the mental foramen, so that the buccal osteotomy is planned safely. Which description of the mandibular canal is correct?A. It lies close to the buccal cortex throughout its courseB. It lies nearer the lingual cortex in the molar region, then crosses buccally in the premolar region to the mental foramenC. It lies in the exact centre of the body of the mandible throughout its courseD. It lies nearer the buccal cortex in the molar region, then crosses lingually in the premolar region
Answer: B. It lies nearer the lingual cortex in the molar region, then crosses buccally in the premolar region to the mental foramen
Explanation: After entering the mandibular foramen, the canal runs downward and forward in the ramus and body. In the molar region it usually lies closer to the lingual cortex, below the roots. Anteriorly it moves buccally and upward between the first molar and the premolars, to open at the mental foramen on the buccal surface, usually near the second premolar apex.
During a postgraduate seminar, residents discuss why the inferior alveolar nerve block often fails in mandibular first molars with irreversible pulpitis. One resident suggests that the main cause is accessory innervation from the mylohyoid nerve, and proposes a routine mylohyoid injection on the lingual aspect of the mandible below the molars in addition to every IANB. Which conclusion is best supported by clinical studies?A. The mylohyoid injection is the most effective supplement and should be routineB. Mylohyoid innervation explains most IANB failures in mandibular molarsC. Mylohyoid injection should replace the IANB in irreversible pulpitisD. Adding a mylohyoid injection does not significantly improve molar pulpal anaesthesia
Answer: D. Adding a mylohyoid injection does not significantly improve molar pulpal anaesthesia
Explanation: The mylohyoid nerve leaves the inferior alveolar nerve above the mandibular foramen and may send branches to the molars through lingual foramina. This made accessory innervation a popular explanation for IANB failure. However, Clark et al.
An endodontist reviewing the pulp biology literature for a residency seminar discusses the classic histological study by Reeves and Stanley (1966) of extracted carious teeth. The study related the depth of bacterial penetration in carious dentine to the state of the pulp, counting any tertiary (reparative) dentine as part of the dentine barrier. According to this study, at what point did the pulp usually first show significant inflammation?A. When bacteria had just crossed the enamel-dentine junctionB. When bacteria were within about 2 mm of the pulpC. When bacteria were within about 0.5 mm of the pulpD. Only after bacteria had reached the pulp chamber itself
Answer: C. When bacteria were within about 0.5 mm of the pulp
Explanation: Reeves and Stanley (1966) serially sectioned carious teeth and measured the distance between the advancing bacteria and the pulp, including any tertiary dentine. When bacteria were more than about 1.1 mm away, pulp inflammation was minimal. Inflammation became significant when bacteria were within about 0.5 mm of the pulp.
An endodontic resident is preparing a departmental audit of how often a second mesiobuccal canal (MB2) is located during treatment of maxillary first molars. Her supervisor asks her to compare the audit result with the pooled prevalence in the large literature review of maxillary first molar anatomy by Cleghorn, Christie and Dong (2006). Approximately what proportion of maxillary first molars have two canals in the mesiobuccal root in that review?A. About 57%B. About 25%C. About 10%D. About 95%
Answer: A. About 57%
Explanation: Cleghorn, Christie and Dong (J Endod 2006) pooled data from more than 8,000 maxillary first molars. A second canal in the mesiobuccal root was present in about 56.8% overall: slightly more in laboratory (in vitro) studies (about 60%) than in clinical studies (about 55%), because sectioning and clearing reveal canals that are missed clinically. Detection rises sharply with the dental operating microscope, experience, time spent and CBCT; some microscope-based clinical series report MB2 in over 70 to 90% of teeth.
Want to try more QCHP Endodontics questions?
Start with 30 free questions from the same QBank, each with a full explanation, then unlock the full bank when you are ready.
Exam fee and rescheduling
Under Circular DHP/2024/10, the Prometric fee for every Qatar qualifying exam is USD 244 per attempt from 1 January 2026 (it was USD 238 in 2024 and 2025). Verification and DHP evaluation fees are paid separately. Changing or cancelling a booking costs:
| When you change or cancel | Charge |
|---|---|
| 30 days or more before the exam | USD 25 |
| 5 to 29 days before the exam | USD 40 |
| Less than 5 days before, not attending, or arriving over 30 minutes late | Full exam fee |
On exam day
- Bring the identity document you used to book; the name must match your Prometric appointment.
- Phones, watches and notes go in a locker. Prometric gives you everything you need at the desk.
- DHP and Prometric list 3 hours for the 150 questions, while DHP's blueprint document says 3.5 hours, so check the time on your booking confirmation and plan on about 70 seconds per question.
- Flag hard questions and come back to them; every question counts towards the 98 correct answers you need.
Results and attempts
Prometric gives you your result at the centre when you finish. DHP applies the 65% cut score exactly as published, without rounding.
DHP's qualifying exam page currently states that applicants may attempt the exam an unlimited number of times. Earlier DHP rules allowed specialist dentists three attempts, so check the page on the day you book in case the rule changes again.
Getting your licence
Passing the exam makes you eligible, but you can practise only after DHP approves your evaluation and a licensed healthcare facility in Qatar employs you and completes your licence. Keep your verification report and good standing certificate current while you look for a job.
Qatar and other Gulf Endodontics exams
| Authority | Where you can work | Exam |
|---|---|---|
| DHP (QCHP) | Qatar | 150 MCQs, 65% cut score, Prometric code SCHQ2 |
| DHA | Dubai | Own Endodontics exam |
| SCFHS | Saudi Arabia | Own Endodontics exam |
Each authority licenses separately, and a pass in one does not replace Qatar's exam. The clinical content overlaps, so your preparation carries over. See our guides to the DHA Endodontics exam and the SLE Endodontics exam.
Frequently asked questions
What is the pass mark for the QCHP Endodontics exam?
65%, which is 98 of 150 questions. DHP does not round scores, so 97 correct answers is a fail.
Who has to sit the QCHP Endodontics exam?
Dentists whose specialty degree is in Category 3 of DHP's approved qualifications list. Category 1 and 2 holders are licensed without it once they meet the experience rule.
Why does literature carry so much weight?
DHP gives classic and current literature 20% of the endodontics paper, about 30 questions, so reading the assigned landmark articles is essential.
How much does the exam cost?
USD 244 per attempt from 1 January 2026, paid to Prometric. Verification and DHP evaluation fees are extra.
How many attempts are allowed?
DHP's qualifying exam page currently says the exam can be attempted an unlimited number of times. Earlier rules allowed specialist dentists three attempts, so check before you book.
Further reading
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