- What This Cheat Sheet Covers (and What It Doesn't)
- Exam Format at a Glance
- Eligibility Snapshot
- The Five Required Case Types
- Requirements Every Submitted Case Must Meet
- The Four Case-Report Domains
- Fees, Conflicts, and Dues
- Dates and Timeline
- After the Oral: Election and Induction
- A Case-Driven Prep Sequence
- What Is Not Published
- FAQ
- The Fellow exam is a virtual oral/case exam: discuss five standardized cases, then defend five of your own.
- Candidates need five years of implant experience and 400 CE hours, including 75 participatory hours.
- All five submitted cases need final prostheses in function for at least one year and implants of 3 mm or wider.
- Current live fees and the 2024 guide conflict; confirm your route fee with AAID before paying.
What This Cheat Sheet Covers (and What It Doesn't)
This is a one-page-style review of the Fellow of the American Academy of Implant Dentistry (FAAID) credential: the oral/case examination, the five-case submission, eligibility, fees, and timeline. If you want the broader picture first, start with What Is FAAID? or What Does FAAID Stand For?. The authorized designation is FAAID, Fellow of the AAID.
One scoping note matters. The Fellow pathway is separate from the Associate Fellow Part 1 written exam, which has its own weighted blueprint. Nothing on this sheet should be read as describing that written test. Facts here were checked against AAID sources on October 7, 2026, and the examination guide dates its Fellow requirements and study-guide revisions to July 2022 (guidebook copyright 2024).
Exam Format at a Glance
The Fellow examination is conducted virtually by AAID examiner teams. It is not a multiple-choice test. You talk through clinical cases with examiners, which makes preparation closer to rehearsing a case presentation than memorizing question banks. For a sense of how this compares with other credentialing hurdles, see How Hard Is the FAAID Exam?
| Item | Fellow Exam Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Virtual oral/case examination |
| Case work | Discuss five standardized clinical cases; defend five submitted cases on different patients |
| Duration | Approximately three hours; up to four hours including equipment testing |
| Equipment | Internet-capable computer with webcam, plus a cellular device; prior equipment check required |
| Language | English; an AAID-supplied interpreter may be arranged at the candidate's expense |
Eligibility Snapshot
Eligibility is front-loaded: you must clear it before the case work even matters. The full breakdown lives in FAAID Requirements 2026, but the essentials fit in a short list.
- Licensure: You must be a licensed dental practitioner.
- Membership/credential path: Either be an AAID Associate Fellow in good standing, or have passed Associate Fellow Part 1 and meet Fellow eligibility.
- Experience: At least five years of implant-dentistry experience.
- Continuing education: 400 hours of implant CE, including 75 participatory/hands-on hours.
- Education alternative: A qualifying full-time implant dentistry, periodontal, oral/maxillofacial surgery or prosthodontics program lasting at least one year satisfies the educational requirement.
- Competence: You must demonstrate surgical and prosthetic competence, and must have provided surgical and/or prosthetic treatment for each submitted case.
That last point is easy to overlook. Cases you only observed or that were treated entirely by someone else do not qualify. You need documented hands-on involvement in the surgical and/or prosthetic phases of each case you submit.
The Five Required Case Types
Your five submitted cases must cover specific categories, each on a different patient. Plan your case inventory against this list before you do anything else, because a gap here can't be fixed with better writing.
Required Submitted-Case Categories
Each category below must be represented among your five cases:
- Removable full-arch implant overdenture
- Posterior maxilla with sinus augmentation
- Anterior maxilla
- Extraction with immediate placement, or ridge preservation with delayed placement
- Fixed complete implant prosthesis
Notice the built-in variety: removable and fixed full-arch work, a grafting-heavy posterior case, an esthetically demanding anterior case, and a timing-of-placement case. Examiners can probe your decision-making across the full spectrum of implant therapy, so be ready to justify why each approach fit its patient.
Requirements Every Submitted Case Must Meet
Beyond the case type, each of the five submissions must satisfy a common set of documentation and outcome standards.
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Prosthesis status | Final prosthesis in function for at least one year by the examination period |
| Implant diameter | At least 3 mm |
| Written narrative | Required for every case |
| Imaging | Diagnostic photographs and radiographs |
| Patient releases | Required for every case |
| Patients | Five different patients |
Older material can cause confusion here. AAID's legacy FAQ still contains an earlier submitted-case and rating scheme. The current five-case requirements take precedence, so don't plan around the FAQ's older description.
The Four Case-Report Domains
The four domain headings below are the principal headings of the Fellow Examination Case Report Outline (pp. 18-19 of the AAID credentialing guidebook). They are required case-report preparation headings. They are not an exhaustive oral-exam blueprint, not an official exam-domain count, and no weights are published for them. For a deeper walk-through, read FAAID Exam Domains 2026.
Domain 1: Patient Examination
The foundation of every case report: what you found and how you documented it before treatment began.
- Be able to present the history and clinical findings for each case from memory
- Link your diagnostic photographs and radiographs directly to the findings you describe
- Expect to explain what the examination revealed about risk, anatomy, and restorative space
Domain 2: Development of the Treatment Plan
This is where examiners test reasoning. Why this plan, and why not the alternatives?
- Prepare to defend your chosen approach, including timing of placement and grafting decisions
- Know the alternatives you considered and why you rejected them
- Be ready to connect prosthetic design to surgical planning
Domain 3: Surgical and Prosthetic Report
The record of what you actually did, step by step, surgically and restoratively.
- Rehearse a clean chronological account of surgery and prosthetic delivery
- Know your implant selections, including that diameters must be at least 3 mm
- Be able to discuss complications, adjustments, and the one-year-in-function outcome
Domain 4: Clinical Résumé
The documentation of your qualifications supporting your candidacy.
- Align your résumé with the experience and CE thresholds (five years, 400 hours, 75 participatory)
- Ensure dates and credentials are consistent across your application and case reports
- Be prepared for examiners to connect your résumé to the competence shown in your cases
Fees, Conflicts, and Dues
This is the section where careful reading pays off. AAID's live fee page and the linked 2024 guide list different numbers, so the applicable route fee requires confirmation before you pay. For the full picture, see FAAID Certification Cost 2026.
| Fee Item | Current Live Fee Schedule | 2024 Guide Schedule |
|---|---|---|
| Fellow examination | USD 1,085 | USD 1,185 |
| Alternative route after Associate Fellow Part 1 (substitution) | USD 599 | USD 699 |
| Re-examination | USD 400 | USD 500 |
Once you hold the credential, maintenance centers on active AAID membership. Regular Fellow dues are USD 695 annually, payable January 1. Membership governance details are set out in the AAID Bylaws, amended November 15, 2025.
Dates and Timeline
As of October 7, 2026, the shared AAID application-window notice (which names both Associate Fellow and Fellow) shows the next window opening in November 2026 and closing February 1, 2027. The Fellow oral/case exam is scheduled virtually for April 3, 2027.
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| Application window opens | November 2026 |
| Application window closes | February 1, 2027 |
| Fellow oral/case exam (virtual) | April 3, 2027 |
Work backward from the deadline. Your cases must have final prostheses in function for at least one year by the examination period, and your narratives, photographs, radiographs, and patient releases all need to be assembled for submission. Dates can change, so verify against AAID's exam schedule page and see FAAID Exam Dates 2026 for ongoing updates.
After the Oral: Election and Induction
Passing the oral is not the final step. Election follows approval by the Admissions and Credentials Board and a vote of the Board of Trustees. Successful oral candidates must then attend an Annual Business Meeting for induction within two years.
That induction window deserves a spot on your calendar, since it carries travel and scheduling implications. If you're weighing the overall payoff of the credential, Is the FAAID Certification Worth It? and the FAAID Salary Guide discuss the career side. For how the credential fits into employment, see FAAID Jobs.
A Case-Driven Prep Sequence
Because this is an oral exam built around your own documented cases, preparation should follow the case-report headings rather than a generic study calendar. The sequence below is one reasonable way to order the work. For broader approaches, see the FAAID Study Guide, and you can pair it with timed practice at our main practice site.
Audit Your Case Inventory
- Map your candidate cases to the five required categories
- Verify each prosthesis will meet the one-year-in-function rule by the exam period
- Confirm 3 mm minimum implant diameter and complete patient releases
Domains 1 and 2: Examination and Planning
- Rehearse presenting findings and justifying each treatment plan aloud
- Prepare alternatives you rejected and why
Domains 3 and 4: Execution and Résumé
- Walk through surgical and prosthetic steps chronologically
- Check résumé consistency against eligibility thresholds
Mock Orals and Equipment Check
- Run timed mock sessions of roughly three hours
- Complete the required equipment test with your webcam computer and cellular device
Why this order? Domains 1 and 2 establish the reasoning that Domains 3 and 4 depend on. If you can't explain why you planned a case a certain way, your account of executing it will sound hollow. Leave the mock sessions for last so they test the whole story at once.
What Is Not Published
A good cheat sheet is honest about its gaps. As of the October 7, 2026 source check, no current numeric passing threshold and no pass-rate statistic were verified. If you're searching for those numbers, see FAAID Passing Score 2026 and FAAID Pass Rate 2026 for what can and cannot be said, and treat any site quoting a precise figure without an AAID citation with caution.
Likewise, the four domains above carry no published weights, and they should not be treated as an official exam-domain count. When AAID publishes updated guidance, it will supersede anything summarized here.
Key Takeaway
Treat AAID's own pages as the final authority on dates, fees, and requirements. Where sources conflict (as with fees), get written confirmation for your specific route before paying or submitting.
FAQ
It is a virtual oral/case examination conducted by AAID examiner teams. Candidates discuss five standardized clinical cases and defend five submitted cases on different patients. The exam takes approximately three hours, or up to four hours including equipment testing.
Each case needs a final prosthesis in function for at least one year by the examination period, implants of at least 3 mm in diameter, a narrative, diagnostic photographs and radiographs, and patient releases. The five cases must come from different patients and cover the required case types.
The current live schedule lists USD 1,085 for the Fellow exam, USD 599 for the alternative route after Associate Fellow Part 1, and USD 400 for re-examination. The 2024 guide lists USD 1,185, USD 699, and USD 500. Because these conflict, confirm the applicable fee with AAID.
As of October 7, 2026, the application window opens in November 2026 and closes February 1, 2027. The virtual Fellow oral/case exam is scheduled for April 3, 2027. Verify against AAID's exam schedule before planning.
Election follows approval by the Admissions and Credentials Board and a vote by the Board of Trustees. Successful candidates must attend an Annual Business Meeting for induction within two years, and maintaining the credential requires active AAID membership, with regular Fellow dues of USD 695 annually.
For a consolidated reference you can bookmark, return to this FAAID cheat sheet as dates and fees are updated, and review the foundational overview at FAAID Certification. When you're ready to test your recall under realistic conditions, head to the FAAID Exam Prep practice tests.