Sleep Medicine Education in Italian Undergraduate and Post-Graduate Dental Programs

Sleep-related breathing disorders (SRBD), particularly obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), represent a major public health concern, yet remain widely underdiagnosed. Dentists play an important role in screening, referral, and management of SRBD; however, the extent of sleep medicine education in Italian dental curricula is unknown. This study evaluated and compared the presence, content, and depth of sleep medicine instruction across Italian programs.

An anonymous survey was distributed to program directors of all eligible Italian undergraduate dental programs and postgraduate residency programs in Orthodontics and Paediatric Dentistry, investigating the nature, content, and modality of sleep education.

Of 82 programs contacted, 29 responded including 7 undergraduate (18.9% response rate), 15 orthodontic (71.4% response rate), and 7 paediatric dentistry programs (36.8% response rate). Only 14.3% of undergraduate programs offered sleep medicine coursework, compared with 60.0% of orthodontic and 42.9% of paediatric dentistry residency programs. Postgraduate programs provided significantly more didactic hours than undergraduate programs (p = 0.023). Overall, 65.5% of programs reported managing patients with SRBD, with significantly higher involvement among postgraduate programs (p = 0.030). Programs offering clinical management had more sleep-trained faculty and greater didactic exposure. Research participation was highest in orthodontic programs. Educational content predominantly focused on OSA, sleep bruxism, and sleep physiology.

These findings highlight substantial gaps in undergraduate curricula and variable integration within postgraduate programs, underscoring the need for strengthened, standardized sleep medicine education in Italian dental training to be able to meet the growing need of dental providers' involvement in the sleep medicine field.