Periodontal- Oral-Systemic Education in U.S. Dental Hygiene Curricula

The link between periodontal disease and systemic disease has been investigated in recent years but little is known about how this information is being taught in dental and dental hygiene curricula. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate if periodontal-oral-systemic information is being taught in U.S. dental hygiene programs and where it is emphasized in the curriculum. Methods: A 30-item questionnaire was developed, approved by the Investigational Review Board, pretested, revised and sent electronically (Survey Monkey) to 287 DH program directors. After 3 mailings, 175 were returned for a 61% response rate. Results: Of 12 possible topics, the 3 areas most emphasized regarding periodontal-oral-systemic disease are diabetes, tobacco use and cardiovascular disease respectively. Most (96%) teach the content in the periodontology course. Most (90%) use journal articles for instructional content and 87% use the AAP website for reference. Many dental hygiene students (80%) receive formal training in communication methods with patients about oral-systemic disease. Most directors (99%) think dental hygienists will serve an important role in the future with assessment of oral-systemic disease. Only 4% have content taught jointly with nursing or allied students. The majority of directors (87%) indicated they could use more evidence based educational materials to help teach the concepts to students. Only 9% think that nurses and physicians are knowledgeable about the relationship of oral health to systemic disease. Conclusions: DH program directors are confident about the education of their DH students regarding oral-systemic health but would like additional evidence based materials to help teach the content. Very few programs are teaching these concepts with other health care providers which should be considered for the future.

This project was supported with an unrestricted research grant from Colgate Oral Pharmaceuticals.