Prof. Peter A. Cistulli Inaugural ETMHDSP(2017)

Professor Cistulli was our first NUS Edmund Tay Mai Hiong Distinguished Speaker.

He is not a dentist but an internationally recognised leader in respiratory and sleep medicine. Much of the evidence base supporting the clinical role of oral appliances in the management of sleep disordered breathing stems from his team’s original research. He was recipient of the prestigious 2006 Pierre Robin Award, given by the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, for his exceptional contribution to research and education.

We needed an individual of Peter’s stature to convince our medical community about the emerging and legitimate role of dentists in the interdisciplinary management of obstructive sleep apnea, and used his sojourn to catalyse local research collaboration in this field.

Prof. gilles J. lavigne ETMHDSP(2018)

Professor Lavigne was co-author of the impactful textbook, “Sleep Medicine for Dentists: A practical overview”. He is arguably the foremost authority in sleep bruxism, a topic which transcends all aspects of dental practice. 

Gilles’ infectious enthusiasm and unique personality helped steer us through an enormous volume of experimental and clinical research on this complex subject and successfully distilled its clinical relevance in more simple terms. We were also updated on the interesting association between sleep, pain and sleep-related breathing disorders and introduced to polysomnographic(PSG) bruxism research during the Faculty workshop. 

DR. DENNIS R. BAILEY ETMHDSP(2019)

Dr. Bailey is a wet-fingered general dentist who is American Board certified in both the disciplines of orofacial pain and dental sleep medicine.

He was also responsible in helping to establish the popular Sleep Medicine Mini-Residency at UCLA School of Dentistry, one of the first university-based programs of its kind for practising dentists in America.

Dennis emphasized that ‘Dental Sleep Medicine’ should not equate only to oral appliance therapy, and showed how important principles of sleep medicine could be incorporated into daily dental practice. He continues to share his personal insights and experience as we contemplate the development of appropriate training programmes in sleep medicine for our local dental community.

DR. Frank lobbezoo etmhdsp(2020)

Because of COVID-19, the 4th Edmund Tay Mai Hiong Distinguished Speaker Programme had to be rescheduled and presented as a webinar on Sunday 11 July 2021.

Provocatively entitled, “Wake-up call, Dental Sleep Medicine is here to stay!”, Prof. Lobbezoo, with the help of his long time coworker, Prof Ghizlane Aarab, made a strong case that Dental Sleep Medicine should be more broadly re-defined to encompass ‘the study of the oral and maxillofacial causes and consequences of sleep-related problems’ and not solely focused on the management of sleep disordered breathing with oral appliance therapy and upper airway surgery.

Frank was the lead author of two impactful joint papers (J Oral Rehabil 2013;40:2-4 and J Oral Rehabil 2018;45(11):837-844) on sleep bruxism and widely recognised for spearheading the campaign to find an international consensus on its definition and assessment. His insightful presentations on Awake and Sleep Bruxism, provided valuable guidelines for both clinicians and researchers working in this field.