# RDA exam practice questions: Direct and indirect restorations Five original RDA exam practice questions on direct and indirect restorations, each answered on this page with a rationale and a source. Last updated: 2026-07-25. ## Question 1 The dentist leaves for a continuing education course across town and asks the RDA to cement the indirect provisional crown when the laboratory delivers it. This dentist has not required direct supervision for provisional cementation under BPC §1752.4(d). Is this lawful? - A. No: cementing a provisional is a direct-supervision duty for every RDA. - B. Yes: provisional cementation is on the §1752.4(a) general-supervision list. - C. Yes: documenting a telephone order converts a direct-supervision duty to general. - D. No: cementing any restoration is never delegable to an RDA at any supervision level. **Answer B:** Yes: provisional cementation is on the §1752.4(a) general-supervision list. BPC §1752.4(a)(10) authorizes an RDA to "fabricate, adjust, cement, and remove indirect provisional restorations." It is a duty native to subdivision (a), performed under general supervision, and the Board's table marks that RDA row G; the stem supplies the decisive fact that this dentist has not raised it under §1752.4(d). General supervision requires the dentist's instructions, not the dentist's presence (BPC §1741(l)). **Common trap:** option A is the most widespread error in circulating RDA prep and the reason pre-2025 duty charts are dangerous. Option C states a false mechanism: documenting a telephone order does not convert a direct-supervision duty into a general-supervision one — the supervision level is set by §1752.4 and the dentist's subdivision (d) determination, not by paperwork. Option D denies an expressly authorized duty. Source: [California Business & Professions Code §1752.4 — RDA duties and supervision levels. Subdivision (a) lists the RDA's duties, performed "under general…](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=1752.4.&lawCode=BPC) ## Question 2 Which tool-to-task pairing is correct when an RDA evaluates a newly placed provisional crown? - A. Explorer for the margins, floss for the contacts, articulating paper for the occlusion. - B. Floss for the margins, explorer for the occlusion, articulating paper for the contacts. - C. Articulating paper for the margins, explorer for the contacts, floss for the occlusion. - D. Explorer for all three, since it is the most sensitive instrument. **Answer A:** Explorer for the margins, floss for the contacts, articulating paper for the occlusion. Each evaluation tool has one job — explorer across the margins, floss through the contacts, articulating paper on the occlusion. **Common trap:** the distractors simply swap the tools; anchor each instrument to its task and the item answers itself. Source: Bird DL, Robinson DS. Modern Dental Assisting. Current edition, Elsevier — the standard clinical dental-assisting reference used for Areas 1–3… ## Question 3 A patient in a Fresno general practice has an endodontic access opening that must be sealed between visits. The dentist's treatment plan calls for a bonded resin composite restoration at the next appointment. The supervising dentist has determined under BPC §1752.4(d) that this procedure is performed under direct supervision, and asks the RDA to place the temporary filling material. Which material choice best supports the planned restoration? - A. Zinc oxide–eugenol (ZOE) reinforced material such as IRM, because eugenol soothes the pulp. - B. A eugenol-free provisional material, because eugenol interferes with the setting of resin. - C. Any temporary cement on hand, because the temporary is removed before bonding anyway. - D. A definitive resin cement, because it will bond to the same surface later. **Answer B:** A eugenol-free provisional material, because eugenol interferes with the setting of resin. Eugenol interferes with the polymerization (setting) of resin materials, so interim materials placed beneath a planned bonded restoration must be eugenol-free; eugenol-free zinc oxide products exist for exactly this situation. On the legal side, placing a direct provisional restoration is BPC §1752.4(a)(9), which subdivision (a) authorizes under general supervision and which the Board's table marks G in the RDA column; here the supervising dentist has exercised the §1752.4(d) option and raised it to direct supervision, so the dentist is physically present in the treatment facility. (A temporary sedative dressing is a distinct 16 CCR §1086(c)(2) row, and the Board table marks that row G.) **Common trap:** ZOE is genuinely sedating and is the classic temporary filling material, which makes option A feel like the "good clinical care" answer — but the future bonded restoration changes the chemistry requirement. Option C ignores that eugenol residue remains on the tooth surface after the temporary is removed, and option D would have an RDA placing a definitive cement, which is not an assisting duty. Source: [California Business & Professions Code §1752.4 — RDA duties and supervision levels. Subdivision (a) lists the RDA's duties, performed "under general…](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=1752.4.&lawCode=BPC) ## Question 4 An RDA in a San Jose office has applied phosphoric-acid etchant to a prepared tooth for the time the manufacturer specifies and has rinsed thoroughly. What should the enamel and dentin look like before the bonding agent is applied? - A. Both enamel and dentin dried until they appear chalky and completely desiccated. - B. Enamel frosty and chalky white; dentin left slightly moist. - C. Both enamel and dentin left visibly wet with a pooled water film. - D. Enamel glossy and wet; dentin blown completely dry with the air syringe. **Answer B:** Enamel frosty and chalky white; dentin left slightly moist. Properly etched enamel appears frosty, chalky white after rinsing and drying, while dentin should be left slightly moist rather than desiccated, because collapsing an over-dried dentin surface weakens the bond. The etch time is set by the manufacturer's directions, commonly in the 15-to-30-second range for phosphoric-acid systems, and applying etchant for restorative procedures is an RDA duty under BPC §1752.4(a)(7) — the general-supervision list, marked G on the Board's table — unless the supervising dentist has required direct supervision for it under §1752.4(d). **Common trap:** "Drier and longer is better" is a persistent and wrong habit — over-drying dentin and over-etching both reduce bond strength rather than improving it. Option C overshoots in the other direction: pooled water dilutes the adhesive. Source: [California Business & Professions Code §1752.4 — RDA duties and supervision levels. Subdivision (a) lists the RDA's duties, performed "under general…](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=1752.4.&lawCode=BPC) ## Question 5 In a Sacramento practice, the dentist prepares a tooth for a composite restoration, then leaves for a continuing education course across town, telling the RDA to etch and apply the bonding agent, and to have the patient wait for the resin placement tomorrow. This dentist has made no determination under BPC §1752.4(d) requiring direct supervision for etching or bonding. What is the correct analysis? - A. Lawful: etch and bonding agent are §1752.4(a)(7) general-supervision duties. - B. Lawful: advance instructions convert a direct-supervision duty into general. - C. Unlawful: etch and bonding-agent placement is direct-supervision work for RDAs. - D. Unlawful: an RDA may not apply etchant or bonding agent at any supervision level. **Answer A:** Lawful: etch and bonding agent are §1752.4(a)(7) general-supervision duties. BPC §1752.4(a)(7) authorizes an RDA to "place bases, liners, etch, and bonding agents for restorative procedures," a duty native to subdivision (a), performed "under general supervision and pursuant to the order, control, and full professional responsibility of a licensed dentist" — so general supervision is the statutory starting point and every act in the stem sits on that one row. The Board's Table of Permitted Duties effective January 1, 2025 marks that RDA row G. General supervision means the procedure rests on the dentist's instructions without requiring physical presence (BPC §1741(l)), so the dentist's absence does not by itself make this delegation unlawful. The stem removes the one fact that would change the result — a §1752.4(d) determination by this dentist requiring direct supervision for the procedure. **Common trap:** Option C is the single most widespread error in circulating RDA prep, and pre-2025 duties charts are its usual source: it treats restorative chairside work as categorically direct-supervision for an RDA, which §1752.4(a) and the Board's own G markings contradict. Option B states a false mechanism: instructions never convert a duty's supervision level. Presence was not required here because §1752.4(a)(7) is a duty native to subdivision (a), where general supervision is the starting point; the dentist's order and full professional responsibility remain mandatory throughout. Option D overcorrects; the duty is expressly authorized. Note the genuine D neighbors that a different stem could invoke: 16 CCR §1086(d)(4), placing bases and liners on sound dentin, §1086(d)(6)–(d)(7), and the §1752.4(e) orthodontic pair. Source: [California Business & Professions Code §1752.4 — RDA duties and supervision levels. Subdivision (a) lists the RDA's duties, performed "under general…](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=1752.4.&lawCode=BPC) ## Next step [Take the free 15-question practice test](https://dentovio.com/rda/free-practice-test) Official reference: [Dental Board of California RDA Combined Written and Law and Ethics Examination Outline](https://www.dbc.ca.gov/formspubs/rda_exam_outline.pdf). Original exam-style questions written for study, never recalled exam content. Independent educational preparation, not legal or clinical advice, and not affiliated with or endorsed by the Dental Board of California or PSI. Confirm current requirements with the Dental Board of California.