Exam guide

Infection Control exam: format, domains and how to study

The DANB® ICE® exam is one of the three components of the CDA® certification exam and one of the three of the NELDA® exam. It has 75 multiple-choice questions and a 60-minute time limit.

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Format

Questions	75 multiple-choice
Time	60 minutes
Delivery	Computer-adaptive testing (CAT), at a test center or with remote online proctoring
Outline in effect	Since March 12, 2025

Content domains and weights

Each candidate gets the same share of questions from each domain. At 75 questions, that is roughly:

Domain	Weight	About
Prevention of Disease Transmission	20 %	15 questions
Prevention of Cross-contamination	34 %	26 questions
Process Instruments and Devices	26 %	19 questions
Occupational Safety and Administration Protocols	20 %	15 questions

Source: the ICE® exam outline and the exam page on danb.org. Exam facts read from danb.org on October 15, 2026.

How to study for it

Study in proportion to the weights. The DANB® exam-preparation page advises starting from the exam outline and its percentages; here Prevention of Cross-contamination alone is 34 % of the exam.
Keep one textbook from the outline’s reference list. The ICE® exam outline lists the textbooks and reference materials used to develop the exam, and the same page suggests having at least one recommended dental assisting textbook.
Practise against the clock. 75 questions in 60 minutes leaves about 48 seconds a question.
Give it time. According to the same page, many test-takers say they studied for at least one to two months, and it suggests setting aside a few hours each week; it also offers a demo exam to show the screens beforehand.

Source: Prepare for Exams, danb.org.

Practice questions

A free practice test across the exam’s domains, drawn from Dentalingo’s 270 questions for it. Each answer is explained the moment you choose, with the public source it was checked against.

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Free reference

Tooth numbering chartAll 52 permanent and primary teeth in the Universal, Palmer and FDI systems, with a converter and a source for every rule.Open the tooth numbering chart

The app

Practise for the Infection Control exam in Dentalingo

270 practice questions for the DANB® ICE® exam, in short lessons across its four domains, each answer explained and checked against a cited source.

A timed mock exam of 75 questions in 60 minutes, spaced review of what you miss, and readiness for each domain.

The first 7 questions are free. After that, full access is a Study Camp subscription; the App Store shows the price in your country. More about the app

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Dentalingo's Practice screen: daily quests and the questions due for spaced-repetition review.

Dentalingo's question screen: a chairside question about a blood pressure reading, answered correctly, with the explanation below the options.