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Education in sleep disorders in US dental schools DDS programs
Michael Scott Simmons1, Andrew Pullinger
1Department of Oral Medicine and Orofacial Pain, University of California Los Angeles School of Dentistry, 10833 Le Conte Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA. drmichaelsimmons@aol.com
Sleep & Breathing = Schlaf & Atmung
|April 28, 2011
Summary
Dental schools are increasing sleep medicine education hours, but most still lack sufficient curriculum time to ensure competency in diagnosing and treating sleep disorders.
Area of Science:
- Dental Education
- Sleep Medicine
- Somnology
Background:
- Pre-doctoral curriculum hours in somnology (the study of sleep) show slow progress in medical schools.
- Limited data exists on sleep medicine (SM) training within dental education.
- This study investigates current pre-doctoral dental education in somnology.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the extent of somnology curriculum hours in U.S. dental schools.
- To evaluate if increased curriculum hours correlate with improved competency in sleep medicine.
- To identify key topics covered in pre-doctoral dental sleep medicine education.
Main Methods:
- A survey questionnaire was mailed to deans of 58 U.S. dental schools regarding 2008/2009 academic year curriculum.
- The questionnaire covered eight topics and 52 items related to sleep medicine.
- Responses were received from 49 of 56 eligible dental schools (87.5% response rate).
Main Results:
- 75.5% of responding dental schools reported some sleep medicine teaching time.
- Curriculum hours ranged from 0 to 15 hours, with an average of 3.92 hours in schools offering SM content.
- Sleep-related breathing disorders and sleep bruxism were the most frequently covered topics.
Conclusions:
- While there's an increase in sleep medicine education hours compared to previous reports, the average hours remain insufficient.
- Most dental schools do not dedicate enough curriculum time to achieve competency in screening for sleep-related breathing disorders.
- Further integration of comprehensive sleep medicine education is needed in dental curricula to address the prevalence of sleep disorders.
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