Sleep medicine education in predoctoral dental programs of the United States: A nationwide cross-sectional survey.

Abstract

Objectives: Given the expanding role of dental providers in screening, referral, and management of sleep-related breathing disorders (SRBD), dental students should receive adequate training. This study assessed the current state of sleep medicine education in U.S. predoctoral dental schools during 2024-2025 academic year.

Methods: A survey was distributed to 72 CODA-accredited U.S. predoctoral dental programs, investigating sleep education, screening, and clinical management. Teaching time and content between programs were compared with independent t-tests and Mann-Whitney U tests.

Results: Thirty-three of 72 dental programs responded (51.6% response rate). Twenty-nine programs (87.9%) reported sleep medicine instruction for a mean total of 8.0 hours (ranging from 1 to 32 hours with a mean total of 7.2 hours after removing one outlier), with more recent curriculum adoption associated to greater teaching time (p = .001). Instruction was primarily provided by orofacial pain (45.5%) and prosthodontics/restorative (27.3%) departments, mainly covering obstructive sleep apnea (87.9%), sleep bruxism (81.8%), and snoring (66.7%). Screening of SRBD was reported by 56.7% of the 29 schools and exposure to SRDB-clinical management by 45.5%. Programs that included screening and/or treatment incorporated more comprehensive curriculum and wider range of management options (p = .007).

Conclusions: Sleep medicine education hours in U.S. dental curricula has more than doubled over the past 16 years, with ~88% of responding programs including sleep medicine instruction for an average of ~8 hours. Gaps remain in screening, triage and clinical management, which were lacking in about 50% of programs, highlighting areas for improvement.