Craniofacial Orthodontic Experience in CODA-Accredited Orthodontic Residency Programs

To evaluate orthodontic care for patients with craniofacial anomalies (CFA) by identifying orthodontic residents' preparedness to treat certain conditions and willingness to receive more training in CFA.

A 12-question survey was sent through the American Association of Orthodontics (AAO) organization to orthodontic residents. Questions were primarily designed to obtain information on the frequency with which they dealt with patients with CFA in their training, specific craniofacial conditions that orthodontic residents feel comfortable treating.

A total of 150 participants out of 1066 responded. Of the 150 responses, 35% were first-year residents, 43% second year, and 22% were third-year residents. Thirty nine percent of residents saw 3 or more CFA patients during their residency followed by 24% that saw no patients with CFA. Forty five percent reported that 1 to 3 hours of lecture time was devoted to CFA per month. Sixty percent felt their training in CFA was not sufficient to feel comfortable treating these patients in practice. Specifically, 62% felt comfortable treating Down syndrome, 84% unilateral cleft lip and/or palate, and 64% bilateral cleft lip and/or palate, while the majority did not feel comfortable treating Pierre Robin sequence (68%), Cleidocranial dysplasia (65%), Crouzon syndrome (75%), Pfeiffer syndrome (80%), Treacher Collins syndrome (76%), Apert syndrome (76%), CHARGE syndrome (84%), and DiGeorge sequence (84%). Seventy eight percent of residents reported that they would like more training in treating craniofacial.

Orthodontic residents did not feel comfortable treating patients with CFA. Majority of the residents felt that they would like to learn more about CFA.