With the health care delivery system in transition, the way in which oral health care services are delivered in 2040 will inevitably change. To achieve the aims of reduced cost, improved access, and higher quality and to advance population wellness, oral health care will likely become a more integrated part of medical care. An integrated primary care system would better meet the needs of an increasingly diverse and aging U.S. population with uneven access to health care services. By 2040, trends suggest that a smaller proportion of dental hygienists will work in traditional solo dental offices; many more will practice with multidisciplinary health care teams in large-group dental and medical practices and in a variety of non-traditional community settings. This integration will require changes in how dental hygienists are educated. To shape the skill sets, clinical judgment, and knowledge of future practitioners, current dental hygiene curricula must be reexamined, redirected, and enhanced. This article examines some of the factors that are likely to shape the future of dental hygiene practice, considers the strengths and weaknesses of current curricula, and proposes educational changes to prepare dental hygienists for practice in 2040. This article was written as part of the project "Advancing Dental Education in the 21 Century."

The aims of this study were to document the extent of nutritional content in U.S. dental hygiene program curricula; identify program directors' opinions, perceptions, and barriers to expanding nutritional content; and evaluate if a proposed nutrition curriculum model would be beneicial. This mixed methods study involved quantitative and qualitative aspects. An invitation letter was sent to all 335 directors of entry-level U.S. dental hygiene programs. In response, 55 directors submitted nutrition course syllabi from their programs (16.4% of the total) for the quantitative analysis. In addition, 14 nutrition instructors and ten program directors were interviewed regarding their perceptions and opinions of nutrition education for dental hygiene students. All aspects of the content analysis results revealed that nutrition content in entry-level dental hygiene programs is diverse. Some programs did not include nutrition content, while others provided oral and systemic nutrition intervention subject matter. Some programs offered multiple clinical nutrition applications and patient contact opportunities while most required none. The interview results disclosed a variety of opinions and perceptions of dental hygienists' role in nutrition. Several interviewees viewed dental hygienists' role in nutrition to be an integral part of patient care, while others indicated no role or providing caries prevention counseling only. Although dental hygienists are expected to provide nutrition assessments and interventions, no standards or standardized competencies exist for nutrition in dental hygiene education. A standardized nutrition model could be beneicial for entry-level programs to ensure dental hygienists possess basic knowledge to perform nutrition assessments

Oral health practitioners routinely perform oral health assessments for the dental patient to determine if oral disease is present. Systemic health is often a contributor to oral health concerns. One area in particular that has a direct effect on oral structures and oral health is poor sleep quality and open mouth breathing. Sleep is a fundamental process of the human body, which regulates core biological functions. Sleep quality reflects a person's ability to fall asleep, stay asleep, and enter into the various rejuvenating sleep cycles for the full duration. A person who does not obtain quality sleep can exhibit a wide range of oral, systemic, and cognitive health problems. Obstructive sleep apnea, which historically has been considered an adult male disease, is being recognized more often in women children. Research suggests various oral malformations found in newborns and young children can manifest as obstructive sleep apnea in adults. Oral health professionals are in a position to recognize the relationship between sleep and health, identify sleep quality concerns in relation to oral health assessments, administer sleep quality assessments, and determine appropriate referrals for further sleep quality evaluation.

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A growing body of literature suggests that today's learners have changed and education must change as well since Millennial generation students expect technology to be used in their coursework. This study sought to determine what educational technology is being used in U.S. dental hygiene programs, what student and faculty perceptions are of the effectiveness of technology, and what barriers exist to implementing educational technology. A stratiied random sample of 120 entry-level dental hygiene programs nationwide were invited to participate in a survey. Fourteen programs participated, yielding a pool of 415 potential individual participants; out of those, eighty-four student and thirty-eight faculty respondents were included in the analysis, a total of 122. Results were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a Mann-Whitney U test (p<0.05). Faculty and student respondents agreed on the effectiveness of educational technology in all areas except clickers and wikis. The faculty members tended to rate the effectiveness of educational technology higher than did the students.