It depends entirely on where you are applying. But two reference points are worth knowing: around 400 is average among everyone who sits the exam, and the average Academic Average among students who actually enrol is 440.
Test Ninjas Research · Updated September 11, 2026
A caution about the numbers. ADEA reports enrollee data on the old 1–30 scale, not the scale the ADA adopted on March 1, 2025. The figures here are from the ADEA Official Guide 2025-2026 (2024 entering class), converted with the ADA’s official concordance — the honest way to do it, but approximate, and ADEA does not republish every year. Always check the current figures a school publishes itself.
Two different averages
Most confusion about DAT scores comes from mixing up two populations. The scale is centred so that around 400 is the middle of everyone who takes the test. But candidates are not matriculants — a substantial share of people who sit the DAT do not enrol, and those who do skew well above the middle.
The gap matters when setting a target. A 400 is genuinely average among candidates and clearly below average among matriculants. If dental school is the goal, benchmark against440, not against 400.
Academic Average benchmarks
Academic Average
Percentile
What it means in practice
500
97%
Above the median essentially everywhere
480
94%
Competitive at highly selective programmes
460
88%
Above the national enrollee average
440
81%
The national first-year enrollee average
420
69%
Below the enrollee average, within the enrolled range
400
54%
Around average among all candidates
380
39%
Below average among candidates
Set the target from your list, not from a table
The only target that means anything is the one derived from the schools you intend to apply to. Pull each school’s published average, convert it if it is still quoted on the old scale, and aim at or above the average of your mid-range schools rather than at the ceiling of your reaches.
The DAT is one input
Admissions committees read the DAT alongside your science and cumulative GPA, shadowing and clinical exposure, letters and personal statement. A score slightly below a school’s average can be offset by a strong record elsewhere; a score far below it usually cannot. Work out where your GPA stands with our GPA calculators.
Balance across the reported scores
Two candidates with the same Academic Average can present very differently, because the DAT reports the science subjects separately as well as together. An Academic Average built on even performance reads as consistent; the same average propped up by one very strong subject invites a question about the weak one. Use the score calculator to see where each of your scores actually falls.
Your GPA carries as much weight as your DAT.
Dental schools read your science and cumulative GPA alongside your scores. Work out both with our free GPA calculators.
A score near 400 is average among all candidates. Students who actually enrol score higher: the average Academic Average for first-year enrollees was 440 on the current scale (an old-scale 21), with the enrolled range running roughly 370 to 510. Above 440 you are at or above the national enrollee average, but "good" only means anything relative to the schools on your list.
The average Academic Average for first-year enrollees was an old-scale 21, which the ADA's concordance maps to 440 on the current scale — roughly the 81th percentile. The enrolled range ran about 370 to 510, and average GPA was 3.59. Source: ADEA Official Guide 2025-2026 (2024 entering class).
A 420 Academic Average sits at roughly the 69th percentile — below the national first-year enrollee average of 440, but comfortably inside the range of scores that enrol. It is workable across a broad set of programmes alongside a strong GPA, though it sits below the average at more selective schools.
It is excluded from the Academic Average, but dental schools still read it, and many publish a PAT expectation separately. Spatial judgement is directly relevant to clinical work, so a weak PAT alongside a strong Academic Average is a pattern admissions committees notice.
Usually only when you have concrete reason to expect improvement — a score well below your practice average, an identifiable weak section, or a materially better preparation plan. You must wait 60 days between attempts, and schools see every attempt.
Both. Because Biology, General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry are reported separately as well as combined, a single weak subject is visible even when the Academic Average looks fine. Some programmes set expectations on individual scores as well as on the average.