Now a days many Indian dentist dream of practicing dentistry abroad due to better economic status , living standard  and also here in india one thinks its no longer a lucrative proffesion as its use to be earlier... US is one nation which provides them this platform.
To Be able to work in US, a foreign trained dentist has to do get addmission in US dental school to do DDS as our indian dental degree is not recognised by the american dental assocation..It is a 2 to 3 years course..The Total expenses to do DDS varies between 1-2 lakhs $...I know for an Indian , amount is huge but loans are easily availble and the interest rate too is not that high so thats not a problem...Now the question is how to get into an DDS program?..well for that u need to pass the National Boards of Dental exams..
National board of dental exam is an eligibility exam which is mandatory to do DDS in US and only then we can practice in states...Its in 2 part Exam which is conducted by American dental association....Nbde 1 and Nbbe 2..Part one can be given anytime after one has passed 2nd year of bds..But one can only apply to the US dental school when he/she has completed her bde degree...One can get addmission in DDS on the basis of nbde 1 only BUT NOWADAYS school prefers part 2 score also as there's lots of competetion..Anyway u can give nbde 1 and pass the exam and develop your resume by having a good gpa(its an evaluation of your BDS aggregate) having work experience, writing thesis, seminars given /attended..These all things count...And if u do get into a dental school then u can enroll into dds and then do part 2 simultaneously..
Now about nbde1 exam info--Part One syallubus is Anatomy,physiology,biochemistry,pathology,microbiology,dental anatomy and occlussion...Mainly Multiple choice questions..but from this year, they have added matching questions too..U will have to match a particular option with the matching answer..like what it use to be during our school days...Not hard if u r concepts are reasonably good and then comes the testlets...This exam is conducted on a single day and is a 8 hours test with 2 hours break in between..
NBDE 2-This includes your 3rd and final year subjects..Take one Part at a time..if u have a good aggregate in your bds(gpa) and some work experience too, then u give nbde 1 and pass the exam,.Good chances that u will get through but otherwise give ur part 2 also here..
Exam can only be taken in US or canada and for that, Either u will have to apply for the visitor visa which is hard to get..else u can get into either master in publich health(MPH) or Masters in hospital Administration( MHA) program in US and then get a student visa..and once u land in USA, then u can give the NBDE exam..its your call but US/CANADA tourist visa is hard to get these days..also depends on various factors like if someone has a permanent job in india, for him to get a US tourist visa will be easy and also strong family ties back home always comes in handy
Ist step is to get an evaluation done of ur bds marks..u will have to send ur bds marksheets,your 10th n 12th marksheets n passing ceritficate to an educational body called ECE..they will convert ur marks into GPA(Ece.org)..it will cost u around 150$..this is calculated out of 4....then once u have receive it then u can start preparing for the part 1.Remember more the gpa,better it is...Then u can also apply simultaneously for the exam by paying the part 1 fee..its around 300$ now..then after that, u can take the exam date n centre which are widely spread in US n canada..Prometric conducts the exam and once u have the confirmation mail from preometric, u can start preparing for the visa...its a long procedure and one needs t have loads of patience..
2012 NBDE RECENT UPDATES; Now only pass/fail system in nbde ..earlier they use to give percentile but now who so ever will get more then 75% percentile, he will pass..REMEMBER percentile is not percentage..its a different thing altogther..And beleive me to get 75% percentile, its not hard at all..very easy infact but then that also means more n more candidate will  pass the exam and hence more stiff competition so thats why i said above that one needs to have a good gpa,work experience always preferred,Research work,seminars attended/Given as all these will differntiate one candidate from another...
Now comes the best part..Dentists are among the best paid proffesions in US...Their starting income is 1 lakh $ and more experience u gain, more salary u will get..
So concentrate and focus if you have to cross these hurdles,,Take it step by step..
Thank you..hope it will benefit you..This is just the overview of the whole NDBE program,..Have any doubts or queries or want to know anything in detail, feel free to ask in comments section..
If  you need Nbde part 1 study material then only you can ask...

Dr Aashish