American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine

Prerequisites for Diplomate Applicants

When evaluating your prerequisites, please determine whether you meet all of the requirements and, if you do not, please do not submit an application. Applications and prerequisites will be reviewed by the ABDSM. The ABDSM will send notification of application/prerequisite approval to applicants by March 1, 2012. All of the following prerequisites must be submitted in addition to a completed application and examination fee by January 15, 2012.

Attendance at an Annual Meeting
Applicants must attend two AADSM Annual Meetings within three years of sitting for the ABDSM certification exam. Attendance at the meeting during which the exam is taken will count as one of the two meetings. The applicant must attend the AADSM annual meeting in the year they sit for the exam. Proof of attendance / registration for the two AADSM annual meetings must be provided.

Documented Time in a Sleep Center/Laboratory

Each applicant must spend no less than ten hours at an American Academy of Sleep Medicine accredited sleep center/laboratory, documented in writing by a board-certified sleep physician (MD, DO. or PhD) associated with that particular AASM accredited sleep center or laboratory. The intention of this requirement is to document that the applicant has experienced direct observation of the operations of a sleep medicine clinic. This time may include some or all of the following: direct patient interaction, observation of polysomnography (PSG) preparation, data acquisition, scoring and interpretation, clinical interaction, therapeutic intervention, and assessment of results of therapeutic intervention.

Copy of Dental License with Expiration Date

Each applicant must provide a copy of their current dental license with expiration date. If the dental license expires before the examination 2012 date, a renewed copy of the dental license is required and must be submitted to ABDSM by January 16, 2012 along with all application materials. Applicants cannot sit for the exam without proof of a current valid dental license.

Letters of Recommendation

Each applicant must provide letters of recommendation from two board-certified sleep physicians (MD, DO or PhD). Sleep physicians should be certified in sleep medicine by the American Board of Sleep Medicine (ABSM) or American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS).

Case Studies

Oral Appliance Track
Each applicant must submit a total of 20 documented oral appliance cases, distributed as follows: five detailed case studies and 15 distinct cases listed on a spreadsheet.

Download Template Spreadsheet for Case Studies

The 15 spreadsheet cases must contain the following:

Black out names of patients on ALL submitted documents
Patient age
Patient gender
Documented presence of OSA by full overnight PSG
Oral appliance utilized
Follow-up full overnight PSG (the follow-up PSG can be a documented home study). All home studies must be read and results verified by a board-certified sleep physician. A pulse oximetry is NOT acceptable as follow-up testing. Documentation that a board-certified sleep physician interpreted pre and post-treatment sleep studies must be provided for both in-lab and at-home testing.
Ten of the patients must have a pre-treatment AHI greater than ten, and in those cases, the AHI must be reduced below ten and reduced in half with subjective relief of symptoms. For the remaining five cases, the patients must have moderate or severe OSA and the post-treatment AHI must be below 20 events per hour and reduced in half with subjective relief of symptoms.

In addition to the above, each applicant must submit five detailed written obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) case studies using oral appliance therapy (OAT). Each case study must adhere to the following criteria:

The five case studies that are to be presented in their entirety must have a pre-treatment AHI greater than ten and an LSAT less than 90% and a post-treatment AHI less than ten or reduced in half with the subjective relief of symptoms and an LSAT greater than or equal to 90%
Include a typed synopsis stating the patient’s chief complaint, history of present illness, pertinent past medical history, clinical and radiographic examination, diagnosis, treatment, results and disposition. Reasoning for use of the chosen appliance must be included (please note: appliances being utilized in each case MUST be FDA-approved for treatment of OSA, or have their formal FDA-approval status pending). Names of patients must be blacked out on ALL submitted documents.
Document presence of OSA, by full overnight diagnostic PSG and full follow-up PSG. Both PSGs must be performed at an AASM accredited sleep center or laboratory and interpreted by a board-certified sleep physician. Only PSGs will be accepted. Home studies for the detailed five case studies will NOT be accepted. ABDSM reserves the right to obtain additional documentation for the cases, if needed.
Combination therapy is NOT acceptable.
Document at least three follow-up appointments, the third appointment being at least three (3) months post OAT insertion.
Contain the following sets of pre and post-insertion supporting documentation, the post-insertion documents obtained no earlier than three months after OAT delivery:
1. Initial full overnight diagnostic PSG report of OSA. PSG must be performed at an AASM accredited sleep center or laboratory and interpreted by a board-certified sleep physician.
2. Radiographs, either panoramic and/or full mouth series.
3. Three photographs consisting of the frontal, right lateral and left lateral views of the dentition in occlusion are required pre-insertion. One frontal photograph of the dentition with the appliance in place. All photos should be no smaller than 4 x 6 inches in size. All photos wherein objects cannot be clearly identified will not be accepted rendering the application incomplete.
4. Photos of study models can be submitted in black and white OR color. Photos of study models are required to be submitted in the following manner:
  
  Individual Cast Views: one photo with full occlusional view of casts sitting back-to-back on the bench top
  
  Articulated model views (six photos total):
  
  a) Three photos: Anterior, right and left views of casts articulated in centric occlusion on the benchtop.
  b) Three photos: Anterior, right and left views of casts articulated with the protrusion bite registration in place (ie: the patient’s initial treatment position) (3 photos)

Study models themselves will not be accepted and will not be returned if submitted. Submission of stone models will delay the application process or render the application incomplete.

Surgery Track (optional)
A maximum of three upper airway surgical cases may be substituted for no more than three of the five OAT cases. Surgical procedures utilized must be well documented in the OSA literature (peer reviewed journals and/or textbooks). All of the above OAT case specifications are required, including pre and post-operative supporting documentation, with the following modifications:

A typed Operative Report, which must include the date and site of the procedure, the applicant listed as the primary surgeon, the specific procedures performed, indications for the operation (i.e., OSA data and other failed therapies, as applicable), and a detailed description of the operation.
A concise rationale for the surgical procedure(s) (i.e., how it/they address the patient’s site(s) of upper airway obstruction) included in either the case synopsis and/or the Operative Report.
The results of at least one appropriate published imaging modality such as lateral cephalometry (obtained at end-tidal volume, with cephalometric analysis to include measurements of SNA, SNB, PNS-P, PAS, MP-H and Go-Pog), nasopharyngolaryngoscopy, MRI, CT scans and acoustic reflection, to document upper airway changes pre- and post-operatively.
Panoramic radiographs, study models, and full dentition photographs (only for skeletal advancement surgery).
Full facial photographs (only if there is a significant change in facial appearance).

The supporting documents described above should be duplicate copies and will remain in the ABDSM archives for a limited period of time. All supporting documents become property of ABDSM. The ABDSM will dispose of these supporting documents at a later date, to be determined by the ABDSM. Applicants are instructed to keep all original documents in their patients’ records.

Prerequisites for International Certificant Applicants

The International Certificate status has been created to allow applicants who are not permanent residents of the United States (contiguous states and territories) and Canada an opportunity to demonstrate competence in the dental sleep medicine.

All of the above requirements for Diplomate applicants shall apply to International Certificant applicants with the following exceptions:

Letters of Recommendation will be accepted from physicians who are not board-certified by the ABSM or ABMS.
Pre and post-overnight polysomnography (PSG) may be performed at a sleep center or laboratory that is NOT accredited by the AASM. These studies, however, must be read and interpreted by a designated sleep physician.
The credentials of each attending sleep physician must be documented.