Sangalli Linda, Alessandri-Bonetti Anna, Sawicki Caroline, Rao Jahnavi, Yanez-Regonesi Fernanda, Moreno-Hay Isabel
College of Dental Medicine, Midwestern University, Downers Grove, Illinois, USA.
Institute of Dental Clinic, A. Gemelli University Policlinic IRCCS, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy.
J Dent Educ. 2025 Jan;89(1):3-16. doi: 10.1002/jdd.13704. Epub 2024 Sep 16.
Dental sleep medicine is an emerging field within dentistry. While limited education in sleep medicine has been reported among US predoctoral dental schools, no study has been conducted among postgraduate dental programs. This study compared the extent and exposure to sleep medicine education among US postgraduate programs in orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, orofacial pain (OFP), general practice residency (GPR), and advanced education in general dentistry (AEGD).
A REDCap survey was distributed among N = 391 US postgraduate programs investigating the nature, content, and modality of sleep education during the 2023-24 academic year.
Among 68 responding programs (43.1% GPR, 18.5% AEGD, 18.5% orthodontics, 12.3% pediatric dentistry, and 7.7% OFP), faculty with sleep training constituted 7.5%, with 2.6% being board certified in sleep medicine. Approximately 41.8% of programs offered sleep medicine courses, with differences among specialties (100% OFP, 42.9% GPR, 37.5% pediatric dentistry, 33.3% orthodontics, 16.7% AEGD; p = 0.032). Didactic teaching comprised 7.8 ± 14.6 h/year (range 0 h/year in 21.5% to 80 h/year in 1.5%), with differences across programs (OFP = 44.0 ± 17.7, orthodontics = 8.7 ± 11.0, GPR = 5.0 ± 8.0, pediatric dentistry = 2.1 ± 1.9, and AEGD = 2.9 ± 5.4; p < 0.001), and constituted the primary modality of instruction (mainly obstructive sleep apnea, bruxism, sleep physiology). Screening and treatment for sleep-related disorders were provided by 35.9% and 37.9% of programs, respectively, with variations among specialties (p = 0.004).
Our findings revealed an average of 7.8 h/year of didactic sleep medicine instruction, which differed across specialties. OFP offered the highest level of didactic and clinical training. These findings emphasize the need for increased dental sleep medicine education to address the increasing involvement of dental professionals in managing sleep-related disorders.
牙科睡眠医学是牙科领域中一个新兴的专业方向。虽然有报道称美国牙科博士前院校中睡眠医学教育有限，但尚未有针对牙科研究生项目的相关研究。本研究比较了美国正畸、儿童牙科、口腔颌面疼痛（OFP）、全科住院医师培训（GPR）以及普通牙科高级教育（AEGD）等研究生项目中睡眠医学教育的程度和接触情况。
通过REDCap调查向391个美国研究生项目发放问卷，调查2023 - 2024学年睡眠教育的性质、内容和形式。
在68个回复项目中（43.1%为GPR，18.5%为AEGD，18.5%为正畸，12.3%为儿童牙科，7.7%为OFP），接受过睡眠培训的教员占7.5%，其中2.6%获得了睡眠医学委员会认证。约41.8%的项目提供睡眠医学课程，各专业之间存在差异（OFP为100%，GPR为42.9%，儿童牙科为37.5%，正畸为33.3%，AEGD为16.7%；p = 0.032）。理论教学平均每年7.8 ± 14.6小时（范围为21.5%的项目为0小时/年至1.5%的项目为80小时/年），各项目之间存在差异（OFP为44.0 ± 17.7，正畸为8.7 ± 11.0，GPR为5.0 ± 8.0，儿童牙科为2.1 ± 1.9，AEGD为2.9 ± 5.4；p < 0.001），且理论教学是主要的教学方式（主要内容为阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停、磨牙症、睡眠生理学）。分别有35.9%和37.9%的项目提供与睡眠相关疾病的筛查和治疗，各专业之间存在差异（p = 0.004）。
我们的研究结果显示，睡眠医学理论教学平均每年7.8小时，各专业之间存在差异。OFP提供的理论和临床培训水平最高。这些结果强调了增加牙科睡眠医学教育的必要性，以应对牙科专业人员在管理与睡眠相关疾病方面日益增加的参与度。
