FAAID Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows

Why There Is No Verified FAAID Pass Rate

Candidates searching for a Fellow of the AAID (FAAID) pass rate usually want one number: the percentage of people who pass the Fellow examination. As of our October 7, 2026 source check, that number does not exist in any AAID document we could verify. The credentialing guide, the Fellow requirements page, the fee schedule, the exam schedule and the legacy FAQ describe eligibility, case requirements, logistics and costs. None of them publishes a pass rate or a numeric passing threshold.

That matters because pass-rate figures circulate widely for other credentials that share the "FAAID" acronym. Those figures belong to different certifying bodies, different exams and different candidate populations. Applying them to the AAID Fellow examination would be a mistake. If you see a percentage attached to "FAAID" without a citation to AAID itself, treat it as unreliable.

What the Fellow Examination Actually Evaluates

The Fellow credential is awarded by the American Academy of Implant Dentistry, and the designation is FAAID, Fellow of the AAID. The assessment is a virtual oral/case examination run by AAID examiner teams. It is not a multiple-choice test. Candidates discuss five standardized clinical cases and defend five cases they have submitted on different patients. The guide specifies approximately three hours for the examination, and up to four hours once equipment testing is included.

Because the format is oral and case-based, "passing" depends on examiner judgment of your clinical reasoning, documentation and surgical and prosthetic competence rather than on recalling isolated facts. That is one reason a single pass-rate figure would be hard to interpret even if one existed: the exam measures demonstrated competence across a body of your own work.

The four case-report preparation headings

The guide's Fellow Examination Case Report Outline (pp. 18-19 of Demystifying the AAID Credentialing Examinations) organizes the written case material under four principal headings. These are required preparation headings, not an official exam-domain count, and no weights are published for them. They are the best map of what your submitted cases must contain. For a deeper walkthrough, see our FAAID exam domains guide.

How Eligibility Screening Shapes Outcomes

Any pass rate would have to be read against who is allowed to sit the exam. The Fellow pathway filters candidates heavily before they ever reach the oral. Applicants must be licensed dental practitioners and must either be AAID Associate Fellows in good standing or have passed Associate Fellow Part 1 and meet Fellow eligibility. On top of that, the requirements include at least five years of implant-dentistry experience and 400 hours of implant continuing education, including 75 participatory or hands-on hours. A qualifying full-time implant dentistry, periodontal, oral/maxillofacial surgery or prosthodontics program lasting at least one year satisfies the educational requirement.

The practical consequence: the people who reach the Fellow oral have already demonstrated years of implant practice and assembled a documented set of five qualifying cases. That is a self-selected, experienced group, which is very different from an open-enrollment test population. Our FAAID requirements guide covers each eligibility element in detail.

The Five Case Types and Where Candidates Struggle

Without published outcome data, the most useful way to think about risk is to look at the case requirements themselves. The guide requires five specific case types, each with final prostheses in function for at least one year by the examination period, implants at least 3 mm in diameter, narratives, diagnostic photographs and radiographs, and patient releases.

1. Removable full-arch implant overdenture
2. Posterior maxilla with sinus augmentation
3. Anterior maxilla
4. Extraction with immediate placement or ridge preservation and delayed placement
5. Fixed complete implant prosthesis

Where the structure creates risk

Based on the requirements, several failure points are structural rather than clinical:

• The one-year-in-function rule. A case that is clinically excellent but placed too recently cannot be used. Candidates who are short even one case type often have to wait for a suitable patient's prosthesis to mature.
• Documentation gaps. Each case needs diagnostic photographs, radiographs, a narrative and a signed patient release. Missing records from years ago cannot be recreated.
• Full-spectrum coverage. The five required types span removable, fixed, grafted and esthetic zone work. Clinicians who concentrate in one area may lack a qualifying case in another.
• Defending your own decisions. The oral component asks you to justify treatment choices, including complications. Vague or defensive answers about your own cases are a predictable weak point.

Fees, Re-Examination and What a Retake Means

Cost is part of the pass-rate conversation, because a failed attempt carries a financial and scheduling consequence. Under the current live fee schedule, the Fellow examination is USD 1,085, the alternative route after Associate Fellow Part 1 is USD 599, and re-examination is USD 400. 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 confirm the fee that applies to your route before you pay. The guide identifies substitution as an alternative fee, not an additional charge. Our FAAID certification cost breakdown covers the wider budget, including dues and preparation expenses.

Conflicting Sources: What to Trust

Several AAID resources overlap, and they do not always agree. When you evaluate any claim about passing odds, difficulty or requirements, rank your sources:

• Most authoritative for requirements: the AAID Fellow requirements page and the current credentialing guide, Demystifying the AAID Credentialing Examinations (REV3, copyright 2024, with Fellow requirements and study-guide revisions dated July 2022).
• Most authoritative for dates: the AAID exam schedule page. As of October 7, 2026, the next application window opens November 2026 and closes February 1, 2027, and the Fellow oral/case exam is scheduled virtually for April 3, 2027. See our FAAID exam dates guide for scheduling detail.
• Most authoritative for fees: the live application-fees page, with the caveat above about the conflicting 2024 guide.
• Least reliable: the legacy FAQ's older case and rating scheme, and any third-party site quoting a pass percentage.

Keep the Fellow scope separate from the Associate Fellow Part 1 pathway. Part 1 has a weighted written blueprint; the Fellow oral/case exam does not publish weights for its four case-report headings. Mixing the two leads to the wrong preparation strategy.

A Preparation Sequence Built Around the Case Report Outline

Since no pass-rate statistic can guide you, let the case-report structure drive your preparation. This is the one place a timeline helps, because the order of work matters: you cannot defend a case whose documentation is incomplete. For fuller resources, see our FAAID study guide and the FAAID cheat sheet.

The exam is in English; an AAID-supplied interpreter may be arranged at the candidate's expense, so raise that need early. For wider context on whether the effort pays off, see whether the FAAID certification is worth it and the FAAID salary guide. To sharpen general implant-dentistry recall alongside your case work, you can also use the FAAID practice tests.

After the Exam: Board Approval, Induction and Dues

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 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. The authorized designation is FAAID, Fellow of the AAID. If you are new to the title itself, our explainers on what FAAID is and what FAAID stands for cover the basics, and you can explore career angles in FAAID jobs.

Frequently Asked Questions

The honest answer to the pass-rate question is that the data is not public, which makes preparation quality and case readiness the factors you can control. For a complete view, read our overview of the FAAID certification, then work through your cases against the five required types.