Assessment of eating disorder inclusion in the oral health curriculum

BACKGROUND: This study sought to inquire about the curricular content of the U.S. dental doctorate of dental surgery (DDS), doctorate of dental medicine (DMD) and dental hygiene (DH) programs regarding eating disorder detection, intervention, and referral services. METHODS: A 25-item questionnaire was distributed electronically via Qualtrics to 403 dental doctoral deans and dental hygiene program directors in the United States between June and December 2022. The responses were analyzed via descriptive statistics, and comparisons between the DDS/DMD and DH programs were carried out via Fisher’s exact and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests. RESULTS: Complete responses were received from 11 DDS/DMD and 57 DH programs. The vast majority (96%) of programs included eating disorder-related courses and lectures, with DDS/DMD and DH programs devoting similar amounts of time to this topic (median times were 135 and 90 min, respectively). Virtually all the respondents agreed that early detection of eating disorders is important and that oral health professionals play a crucial role in this regard. However, only half of the programs reported referring patients for eating disorder-related evaluations, 32% identified appropriate referral agencies, and only 9% established a point person for such referrals. Most respondents (57%) suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic worsened issues related to eating disorders. There only significant difference identified between the DDS/DMD and DH programs was the identification of referral agencies for patients presenting with oral manifestations of eating disorders, with proportionally more DDS/DMD programs (6 out of 8) responding positively compared to DH programs (16 out of 47). CONCLUSIONS: The study results affirm the importance of eating disorders as a topic that needs more attention in the oral health professionals’ training curricula and highlight several areas where specific curricular interventions can be made.