- What the Four Domains Actually Are
- How the Virtual Oral/Case Exam Uses These Headings
- Domain 1: Patient Examination
- Domain 2: Development of the Treatment Plan
- Domain 3: Surgical and Prosthetic Report
- Domain 4: Clinical Résumé
- Mapping Domains to the Five Required Case Types
- Sequencing Your Preparation Around the Domains
- Logistics, Fees and Dates That Shape Your Prep
- Frequently Asked Questions
- FAAID means Fellow of the AAID, earned through a virtual oral/case examination run by American Academy of Implant Dentistry examiner teams.
- The four domains are case-report headings from the Fellow outline, not a weighted blueprint, so no percentages are published.
- You defend five submitted cases and discuss five standardized cases; every submitted case needs a final prosthesis in function at least one year.
- Fellow preparation is separate from the weighted Associate Fellow Part 1 written exam; do not blend their study materials.
What the Four Domains Actually Are
If you search for "FAAID exam domains," you may expect a neat content outline with percentage weights, like many multiple-choice certification exams publish. The Fellow of the AAID (FAAID) pathway does not work that way, and understanding the difference early will save you weeks of misdirected preparation.
The four domains used throughout this guide are the principal headings of the Fellow Examination Case Report Outline, found on pages 18-19 of AAID's guidebook Demystifying the AAID Credentialing Examinations: Your Guidebook To Increasing Your Chances for Success (REV3 file, copyright 2024, with Fellow requirements and study-guide revisions dated July 2022). They are:
- Patient Examination
- Development of the Treatment Plan
- Surgical and Prosthetic Report
- Clinical Résumé
For the broader picture of what the credential is, see our explainers on what FAAID is and what FAAID stands for. The authorized designation, "FAAID, Fellow of the AAID," is the one AAID announces to credentialed members.
How the Virtual Oral/Case Exam Uses These Headings
The Fellow examination is a virtual oral/case exam administered by AAID examiner teams. Rather than answering a bank of multiple-choice questions, you participate in two linked activities:
- Discussing five standardized clinical cases presented by the examiners.
- Defending five submitted cases on five different patients, each one documented with a narrative, diagnostic photographs and radiographs, and patient releases.
The guide specifies approximately three hours for the examination, and up to four hours when you include equipment testing. You need an Internet-capable computer with a webcam, a cellular device, and a prior equipment check. The examination is conducted in English; an AAID-supplied interpreter may be arranged at the candidate's expense.
The four domains matter because they mirror the logic examiners follow when they question you. A defended case is a story that begins with the patient, moves through a reasoned plan, executes surgically and prosthetically, and ends with a documented outcome. Examiners probe each stage, and your case reports should already be organized to answer those probes. Your Clinical Résumé, in turn, establishes the experience and education that make you credible as a Fellow candidate in the first place.
Domain 1: Patient Examination
This is where every case begins and where examiners often test whether you truly own the clinical story. The Patient Examination heading covers the diagnostic foundation: who the patient is, what they presented with, and what you found.
Domain 1: Patient Examination
Your goal is to show a complete, disciplined diagnostic workup that justifies every decision that follows.
- Chief complaint and patient expectations, in the patient's own terms
- Medical and dental history, including conditions or medications that affect implant therapy
- Clinical findings: soft-tissue condition, occlusion, existing restorations, available space
- Diagnostic imaging and what each image revealed about bone volume, quality and anatomic landmarks
- Diagnostic photographs that clearly document baseline status
- Risk factors identified before treatment began
What examiners tend to probe here
Expect questions that test whether your examination informed your decisions rather than merely filled a chart. If a radiograph showed limited posterior maxillary bone height, can you explain how that finding led to a sinus augmentation plan? If a medical history introduced a risk factor, can you describe how you managed it? Candidates sometimes treat this section as paperwork and then stumble when asked why a particular finding mattered.
Because each submitted case requires diagnostic photographs and radiographs, quality documentation is itself part of your preparation. Gather baseline images early in the process, ideally while the case is still active, rather than trying to reconstruct them later. Our FAAID requirements guide details the documentation each case must include.
Domain 2: Development of the Treatment Plan
Where Domain 1 asks "what did you find," Domain 2 asks "what did you decide, and why." This heading is about clinical reasoning, and for many candidates it is the heart of the oral defense.
Domain 2: Development of the Treatment Plan
Show that your plan was reasoned, sequenced and responsive to the patient's circumstances, not simply the default approach.
- Diagnosis and treatment objectives tied back to the examination findings
- Prosthetic-driven planning: how the intended final restoration shaped implant position, number and size
- Alternatives considered and the reasons you chose your approach over them
- Staging and sequencing of surgical and restorative phases
- Anticipated complications and your contingency thinking
- Patient communication and informed consent
Defending your reasoning under questioning
Examiners are interested in whether you can articulate alternatives and defend your choice, including where reasonable clinicians might differ. A weak answer says "this is how I always do it." A strong answer says "given the available bone, the occlusal scheme and the patient's priorities, I considered these options and selected this one because..." Practice saying your rationale aloud, because the oral format rewards candidates who can explain judgment concisely and without notes.
Remember that all five submitted cases require implants at least 3 mm in diameter, and the planning section is where you justify the implant selection that satisfies this while also serving the case biologically and prosthetically.
Key Takeaway
Write each treatment plan as if you were already defending it. For every major decision, add one sentence on the alternative you rejected and why. That habit turns a written plan into oral-defense ammunition.
Domain 3: Surgical and Prosthetic Report
This domain documents what you actually did. It is also where the Fellow credential's core demand shows up: candidates must demonstrate surgical and prosthetic competence, and must have provided surgical and/or prosthetic treatment for each submitted case.
Domain 3: Surgical and Prosthetic Report
Document and be ready to explain execution, outcomes and follow-up for each submitted case.
- Surgical protocol: flap design, osteotomy preparation, implant placement, grafting or augmentation steps
- Implant details: system, dimensions, positions, and rationale for each
- Provisionalization and healing management
- Prosthetic phase: impressions, abutment selection, final prosthesis design and delivery
- Occlusal considerations and maintenance plan
- Outcome documentation, including the final prosthesis in function for at least one year by the examination period
- Complications, how they were managed, and what you learned
The one-year function requirement
All five cases require final prostheses in function for at least one year by the examination period. This is a hard documentation constraint, not a suggestion. It means candidates should be selecting and timing their cases well before the application window, so that each one has matured long enough to be defensible. A case that looks beautiful at delivery but lacks follow-up evidence is a liability.
Be honest about complications
Candidates sometimes avoid discussing complications for fear of appearing weak. In an oral exam, the opposite tends to be true. A candidate who can describe what went wrong, how it was recognized, how it was resolved and what changed afterward demonstrates exactly the judgment a Fellow is expected to have. Polished cases with no discussion of risk can invite more skeptical questioning, not less.
Domain 4: Clinical Résumé
The fourth heading shifts from the case to the clinician. The Clinical Résumé is your documented record of experience and education, and it must line up with the eligibility rules for the Fellow credential.
Domain 4: Clinical Résumé
Present a clean, verifiable account of your qualifications that matches the published eligibility criteria.
- Licensure as a dental practitioner
- Path to eligibility: AAID Associate Fellow in good standing, or passage of Associate Fellow Part 1 plus Fellow eligibility
- At least five years of implant-dentistry experience
- At least 400 hours of implant continuing education, including 75 participatory or hands-on hours
- Alternatively, a qualifying full-time implant dentistry, periodontal, oral/maxillofacial surgery or prosthodontics program lasting at least one year satisfies the educational requirement
Treat this section as an audit trail. Gather certificates and course documentation early, tally hours carefully, and confirm that the participatory hours you claim are genuinely hands-on. Mismatches between your résumé and the eligibility rules create avoidable delays. The full qualification picture is covered in our eligibility and prerequisites guide.
Mapping Domains to the Five Required Case Types
The domains tell you how to organize each case report. The case types tell you which cases you must have. Together, they define the workload: five different patients, five different clinical scenarios, each documented through all the relevant domain headings.
| Required Case Type | Domain 1 Emphasis | Domain 2 Emphasis | Domain 3 Emphasis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Removable full-arch implant overdenture | Edentulous arch assessment, ridge form, interarch space | Attachment type, implant number and distribution, denture design | Placement protocol, overdenture fabrication and delivery |
| Posterior maxilla with sinus augmentation | Residual bone height, sinus anatomy via imaging | Augmentation approach and timing, graft rationale | Sinus procedure details, implant placement, healing and restoration |
| Anterior maxilla | Esthetic risk, tissue biotype, smile line | Prosthetic-driven positioning, esthetic planning | Placement precision, provisional and soft-tissue management, final restoration |
| Extraction with immediate placement or ridge preservation and delayed placement | Extraction-site condition, socket and wall integrity | Rationale for immediate versus delayed approach | Extraction technique, preservation or placement steps, restoration |
| Fixed complete implant prosthesis | Full-arch status, bone and occlusal assessment | Implant configuration, prosthesis design, staging | Surgical protocol, prosthetic verification, final delivery and occlusion |
The emphasis cells are study prompts, not official scoring criteria. Use them to ask yourself whether each of your five cases could withstand questioning on those points. Also note that AAID's legacy FAQ still contains an older submitted-case and rating scheme; the current five-case requirements take precedence, so rely on the current guide and the AAID Fellow requirements page rather than older descriptions.
Sequencing Your Preparation Around the Domains
Generic study advice has limited value for an oral/case exam, so tie your schedule to the structure of your case reports instead. The timeline below assumes your cases already exist and are mature enough to meet the one-year function requirement. Adjust it to your own application timing; the next window opens November 2026 and closes February 1, 2027.
Résumé and eligibility audit (Domain 4)
- Confirm licensure, Associate Fellow status or Part 1 passage, and five-year experience
- Reconcile CE records against the 400-hour and 75 hands-on-hour thresholds
Case documentation and Domain 1
- Verify every case has narratives, photographs, radiographs and patient releases
- Rehearse presenting the baseline findings for each case in under two minutes
Treatment planning defense (Domain 2)
- For each case, write out alternatives considered and reasons for your choice
- Practice defending reasoning aloud, ideally with a colleague playing examiner
Surgical and prosthetic execution (Domain 3) and the standardized cases
- Prepare to discuss complications and one-year outcomes candidly
- Practice working through unfamiliar cases verbally, since you will discuss five standardized cases
- Run the full equipment check with webcam and cellular device
Our FAAID study guide expands on how to approach this preparation, and the FAAID cheat sheet condenses the must-know facts into a one-page review. For practice with related clinical reasoning, you can also use the FAAID Exam Prep practice tests as a supplement to your case rehearsal.
Logistics, Fees and Dates That Shape Your Prep
Several practical details influence how you plan, so confirm them directly with AAID before you commit.
Fees and the conflicting schedules
Current live fees list USD 1,085 for the Fellow examination, USD 599 for the alternative route after Associate Fellow Part 1, and USD 400 for re-examination. However, the linked 2024 guide lists different figures: USD 1,185, USD 699 for substitution, and USD 500 for re-examination. These official schedules conflict, so the applicable route fee requires confirmation with AAID. The guide identifies substitution as an alternative fee, not an additional charge. For a full breakdown, see our certification cost guide.
Dates and timing
As of October 7, 2026, the next application window opens November 2026 and closes February 1, 2027. The Fellow oral/case exam is scheduled virtually for April 3, 2027. Our exam dates guide tracks scheduling details, and you should verify against AAID's exam schedule page before building your timeline.
After you pass
Election follows Admissions and Credentials Board approval and a Board of Trustees vote. Successful oral candidates must attend an Annual Business Meeting for induction within two years. Maintaining the credential requires active AAID membership; regular Fellow dues are USD 695 annually, payable January 1. If you are weighing whether the investment makes sense, our ROI analysis and earnings guide discuss the considerations, and the FAAID jobs page covers who values the credential.
Key Takeaway
Because the case reports follow the four domains and every case needs at least a year of function, your real deadline is set months before the application window. Start with Domain 4 and your case maturity, not with studying.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. The four domains are the principal headings of the Fellow Examination Case Report Outline, and no weights are published for them. They are required case-report preparation headings rather than an official weighted blueprint or exam-domain count.
No. It is a virtual oral/case examination run by AAID examiner teams. You discuss five standardized clinical cases and defend five submitted cases on different patients, over roughly three hours, or up to four including equipment testing.
Five are required: a removable full-arch implant overdenture; posterior maxilla with sinus augmentation; anterior maxilla; extraction with immediate placement or ridge preservation and delayed placement; and a fixed complete implant prosthesis. Each needs a final prosthesis in function for at least one year.
It must demonstrate licensure, a qualifying path through Associate Fellow status or Part 1, at least five years of implant-dentistry experience, and 400 hours of implant CE including 75 participatory hours, or a qualifying one-year-plus program in a relevant specialty.
They appear on pages 18-19 of AAID's guidebook, Demystifying the AAID Credentialing Examinations, available through AAID's credentialing documents page. For related reading, see our overview of FAAID certification and the FAAID training guide.