Dentists' Temporomandibular Disorder-Related Education, Knowledge, Attitudes and Behavior: How Do Personal and...

Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) affect 5%-12% of US adults. The objectives were to assess dentists' TMD-related education, knowledge, attitudes, and behavior and to explore whether TMD-related experiences were associated with these constructs.

A total of 296 dentists responded to a survey. Descriptive statistics provided an overview of the results, and Pearson correlation coefficients described the relationships between dentists' TMD experiences, knowledge, attitudes, and behavior.

Only 17.2% were satisfied with classroom-based and 10.1% with clinic-based TMD-related education; 29.6% described their classroom-based and 17.8% their clinic-based education about TMD diagnosis positively; 37.7% were confident in their TMD-related knowledge, but 94.1% recognized their limitations when managing TMD. The majority agreed that TMD is a physical/anatomical problem (87.3%), behavioral problem (74.3%), psychosocial problem (71.6%), and that stress plays a role for TMD (93.1%). Most dentists had positive attitudes toward diagnosing TMD (82.8%), felt responsible for treating TMD (63.1%), regularly saw patients with TMD (58.2%), and screened patients for TMD (67%). Concerning treatments utilized, 63.3% used occlusal appliances, while only 23.6% prescribed medications. 43% had experienced TMD themselves. The more persons they knew with TMD, the more treatment-related knowledge they reported (r = 0.26; p < 0.001), the more positive were their attitudes (r = 0.16; p < 0.01), the more comfortable they were treating TMD (r = 0.25; p < 0.001), and the more they cared for patients with TMD (r = 0.34; p < 0.001).

TMD-related dental and continuing education should reconsider classroom- and clinic-based TMD training. Personal TMD experiences correlate with more positive attitudes and behavior. This should alert dental educators to the importance of engaging students and dentists in hands-on education.