Dental Hygiene Programs On Average Spend Only 1.55 Hours on Sleep Medicine Training

By Peter Blais, RPSGT

Sleep medicine is included in the majority of US dental hygiene programs, but the content is limited and focused on sleep bruxism, according to a study in the Journal of Dental Education.

“This level of training is inadequate to prepare dental hygienists for their potential role in patient education, screening, and management of sleep-related breathing disorders,” states the abstract of “Sleep Medicine Content in Dental Hygiene Education.”

Though dental hygienists are on the frontline regarding prevention and counseling, the study found that the mean number of hours devoted to sleep medicine in accredited dental hygiene programs curricula is a mere 1.55 hours. And while 69% of the responding programs reported spending time on sleep bruxism, only 28% reported spending time on other topics such as snoring and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine board member and American Board of Dental Sleep MedicineDiplomate Kevin F. Postol, DDS, who was not involved in the study, says it is important for dentists to have hygienists knowledgeable in sleep medicine. “Dental hygienists spend up to an hour with each of their patients every six months, thoroughly reviewing each patient’s updated health history and dental history,” says Pistol, owns a dental practice in the St. Louis metro area. “Dental hygienists have the opportunity to discuss not only dental concerns with patients but also other health issues. We find many patients are unaware of the correlation between health issues, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Kevin F. Postol, DDS

“To help educate our patients about the importance of treating OSA, a hygienist helps explain sleep apnea and its symptoms and, if necessary, have the patient fill out an Epworth or STOP-BANG screener. Hygienists can be first-line screeners for dental patients who may be unaware of OSA and provide information on the different treatment options available, such as oral appliances.”

Postol says sleep hygiene schools have hesitated to add sleep medicine education for the same reason they have not added more sleep medicine education in dental schools—lack of time. “Schools are already teaching as much as they can in the short amount of time they have students in the classroom. While dentists who are involved with sleep medicine would like to have hygienists better trained to help identify and educate patients about OSA, most dentists realize there is only so much dental hygiene programs can teach in two to four years. For dentists that offer oral appliance therapy, it is in their best interest to train their hygienists about dental sleep medicine.”

There are currently no initiatives in dental hygiene schools to increase sleep hygiene educational opportunities, Postol reports. In some of the dental assisting schools, students are taught little background on OSA. Hygienists gain in-depth knowledge about dental sleep medicine from the dentist they work with and also from any continuing education courses they take. In most cases, if the dental practice the hygienist works at treats patients with OSA, then the dentist will help educate the hygienist in this field.