NDEB · AFK
AFK prep in Canada, calibrated to the NDEB style.
Lumen's AFK preparation is built on three pillars: a question bank calibrated to the NDEB Released Item Bank style, full-length timed mocks that mirror the AFK blueprint, and a weak-topic dashboard that tells you what to study next. No theatre, no padding, no bundled video courses you will not watch.
Items in bank
3,500+
Full-length mocks
1
Drill topics
12
Free diagnostic
20 Q
01 — The approach
Calibrate, mock, review, repeat.
Most AFK prep tools throw a giant question bank at you and call it a day. The signal in the AFK isn't volume — it's calibration. A bank that drifts harder than the real exam wastes weeks of your prep cycle on questions you will never see. A bank that drifts easier hides gaps that cost you marks on the day. We tune our items against the published Released Item Bank style, not against an inflated difficulty curve.
- Calibrate. Sit the free diagnostic cold. The 20-item topic breakdown becomes the map for everything that follows.
- Mock. One full-length timed mock per week, under exam conditions. No pausing, no checking notes, no second-passes.
- Review. Walk every miss with the rationale, write the why in your own words, and bookmark the items that exposed concept gaps.
- Repeat. Drill the bottom two topics from the dashboard until their ranks move. Then re-mock.
02 — Topic coverage
Nine domains, weighted to the NDEB blueprint.
We mirror the AFK competency document directly. Every item in the bank carries a topic tag and a sub-topic tag, which is what lets the dashboard surface the gaps that compound on exam day. The percentages are the official domain weights — midpoints of the NDEB’s published tolerance bands.
Applied Biomedical Sciences
20%
Anatomy, biochemistry, biomaterials, cariology, growth and development, histology, immunology, microbiology, oral embryology, physiology
Restorative, Prosthodontics, Implants
16%
Restorative materials, fixed and removable prosthodontics, implants, occlusion
Oral Medicine/Oral Pathology, Oral Radiology
15%
Soft-tissue lesions, differential diagnosis, oral pathology, radiographic interpretation
Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Local Anesthesia, Medical Emergencies
14%
Drug classes, interactions, anesthetic agents, in-office emergency response
Periodontics
8%
Classification, scaling/root planing, surgical principles, peri-implant disease
Oral Surgery, Trauma, Orofacial Pain, Dental Emergencies
8%
Exodontia, surgical complications, trauma management, TMD
Orthodontics, Pediatric Dentistry, Geriatric Dentistry, Special Needs Patient
8%
Behaviour management, growth and development, age-modified care
Endodontics
6%
Pulpal and periapical diagnosis, instrumentation, obturation, retreatment
Evidence-Based Dentistry, Prevention, Infection Control, Ethics & Jurisprudence
5%
Study design, fluoride and sealants, IPC, consent, scope of practice
03 — What you get
Tools that move your score.
Mocks
Full-length, timed, blueprinted
One full 200-item mock structured against the published AFK domain weights. Pause-disabled, exam-style timer, deferred review. Half-mock and diagnostic variants available for warm-up and calibration.
Topic practice
By domain, by sub-topic
Drill any of twelve topics in 25-item sets. Sub-topic filters narrow the loop further when a gap shows.
Dashboard
Weak-topic ranking
Live ranking of your weakest domains across all sessions. The bottom two are always the highest-leverage hour of study.
Rationales
Right and wrong, explained
Every item carries a rationale for the correct answer plus a per-distractor explanation, with citations to standard references.
04 — Editorial method
Lumen's bank is calibrated to NDEB Released Item Bank style.
Every Lumen item is written against the published NDEB AFK competency document. Each one is reviewed by a licensed clinician for clinical accuracy before it reaches you, and the stem-and-options structure mirrors the released NDEB sample items — short clinical anchors, single best answer, four to five options, distractors that punish surface-level recall. We do not use recalled exam content. We do not pretend to be the NDEB. What we do is build practice that feels indistinguishable on the page.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
- What is the AFK exam?
- The AFK (Assessment of Fundamental Knowledge) is a 200-item, computer-based single-best-answer multiple-choice exam administered by the NDEB over four hours in two two-hour parts. It is the first exam in the NDEB Equivalency Process for internationally trained dentists.
- How is Lumen's bank calibrated?
- Every Lumen item is written against the published NDEB AFK competency document and reviewed by a licensed clinician. We mirror the official Released Item Bank style — short clinical stems, single best answer, four to five options — without using recalled exam content.
- How long should I prepare for the AFK?
- Most candidates run 8 to 12 weeks of focused prep. The candidates who pass first time tend to start with a cold diagnostic, then spend weeks 2 to 6 on content sweep and weeks 7 to 12 on timed mocks plus weak-topic loops.
- Can I prepare for the AFK from outside Canada?
- Yes. The AFK is delivered at Prometric centres in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand (and at paper-format sites in Canada) on published windows. You do not need to be in Canada for the AFK or the ACJ — only the NDECC (the National Dental Examination of Clinical Competence, which replaced the ACS in 2022) requires in-person testing in Ottawa.
- Do I need a paid plan to start?
- No. The 20-question diagnostic and topic samples are free. You only need a paid plan for full-length mocks, the per-topic question bank, and the weak-topic dashboard.
- What pass rate should I aim for in mocks?
- A consistent 70%+ on full-length, timed Lumen mocks, with no single topic below 60%, is a reasonable readiness signal. Two consecutive mocks above that threshold tend to correlate with first-time AFK passes.
Start now
Twenty questions. Free. No card.
The 20-question diagnostic gives you a topic-level read on your current AFK readiness in about fifteen minutes. The score is not the point — the topic ranking is.
Independent study tool. Not endorsed by, affiliated with, or sponsored by the National Dental Examining Board of Canada. AFK is a trademark of its respective owner. We do not promise passing scores.