Sleep medicine content in dental hygiene education

Sleep medicine content in dental hygiene education Public Deposited

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Creator

Minichbauer, Brittany
- Affiliation: School of Dentistry, Division of Allied Dental Education, Dental Hygiene Master's Program

Abstract

Purpose/Objectives: According to the National Sleep Foundation, 70 million Americans chronically suffer from approximately 60 medically recognized sleep disorders. Clinicians are unaware of these disorders and many individuals remain undiagnosed. The purpose of this study was to assess the amount of sleep medicine content in dental hygiene programs across the United States (US). Methods: A survey was emailed to all 334 accredited US dental hygiene programs. Follow-up emails and phone calls were made to non-responding programs. Results: Thirty-five percent of the programs responded. The mean number of hours devoted to sleep medicine was 1.55 hours (sd=1.37). Seventy four percent of the responding programs reported spending time on sleep bruxism (mean=1.38 hours, sd=0.85); however only 39% reported spending time on other topics such as snoring and obstructive sleep apnea (mean=1.39 hours, sd=0.72). Conclusion: Sleep medicine is included in the majority of US dental hygiene programs, however the content is limited and focused on sleep bruxism.

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