Periodontal Staging and Grading: An International Dental Hygiene Education Survey

Abstract

Objective: The 2017 World Workshop on the Classification of Periodontal and Peri-Implant Diseases and Conditions ushered in a new paradigm for assessing and classifying periodontal diseases. This has significant implications for dental hygiene (DH) education programs’ curricula. Therefore, the purpose of this international survey was to assess: if and how accredited undergraduate DH education programs across the globe were integrating the new staging and grading system into their curricula, and program directors’ perceptions of the barriers and benefits of integrating the new staging and grading system into DH curricula and clinical care. Methods: This study was deemed exempt from IRB oversight. A total of 339 undergraduate DH program directors from the US, Canada, and Australia that had similar accreditation standards were recruited for the survey. An electronic survey was developed and disseminated via Qualtricsxm. Survey design included demographics and other questions to assess program directors’ knowledge, understanding, integration of and barriers to implementing the new staging and grading system into their curricula. Results: One Hundred forty-five chose to participate in this study, but 140 completed the survey, for a response rate of 42%. The results showed that (91%) of DH education programs had integrated the new staging and grading system into their curricula. Respondents reported DH didactic/theory courses (99%) and clinical courses (94%) as the curriculum's areas hosting the content. Respondents reported application of the new classification system would be deployed clinically in all components of the dental hygiene process of care. There was a statistically significant difference in the confidence of teaching the staging and grading system across institutional settings, while there were no significant differences between institutional settings regarding the confidence in integrating the new classification system. The three main benefits of integrating the new staging and grading system into their curricula was that it considers expected disease progression (3.25±2.06), integrates individual risk factors (3.45±1.73), and allows for personalized treatment (4.04±2.20). The most reported barrier to integrating the new system was the lack of faculty support (26%). Conclusion: DH educators have implemented the new periodontal staging and grading system into their clinical and didactic curricula. DH educators valued the individual, patient-specific components of the new system. However, educators were less confident in teaching the new system, particularly those at community and technical colleges.