The Current State of Dental Sleep Medicine Practice in Academic Institutions: A Questionnaire-Based Study
Karimi, Nader.
2018
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Abstract: Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the current state of dental sleep medicine practice at the United States and Canada academic institutions. Methods: An electronic survey created in Qualtrics was sent via email. The survey was sent to the 76-dental academic institute in the United States and Canada, 16 of which were known to have a dental sleep medicine clinic. The survey was ... read moreemailed to the program directors of the sleep medicine clinics at these dental schools. For the remaining 60 schools the survey was instead sent to the academic dean. The 21-multiple choice item survey was validated and received IRB approval. Descriptive statistics (counts and percentages) were calculated. SPSS version 24 was utilized. Results: The response rate was 37% (28 schools), of which 86% were located in the United States. Of the respondents, 45% (12 schools) had a dental sleep medicine clinic. The dental sleep medicine clinics were either independent/ part of diagnostic services (42%) or incorporated with other departments. Nearly (33%) of the schools that have a sleep medicine clinic, reported difficulty integrating sleep medicine into other existing programs. Lack of administrative support or space for clinic and staffing and billing issues are the reported reasons for that difficulty. Eighty-three percent respondents reported the presence of 1-2 board certified dental sleep medicine faculty members, while the remaining schools did not have any. Conclusion: This present study indicates that Dental Sleep Medicine is faced with many obstacles that need to be addressed. Dental Sleep Medicine is a growing field that needs more attention from educational institutes. Also, it can be noted the positive effect of having board-certified dental sleep medicine faculty. To help the growth of Dental Sleep Medicine strategies such as increased collaboration among faculty members, and an interdisciplinary approach between departments in the dental clinic might be implemented. This will lead, eventually, to improve patient care in the long run.
Thesis (M.S.)--Tufts University, 2018.
Submitted to the Dept. of Other.
Advisor: Leopoldo Correa.
Committee: Noshir Mehta, Sarah Pagni, Ekaterini Antonellou, and Eileen Doherty.
Keyword: Dentistry.read less - ID:
- 7p88ct657
- Component ID:
- tufts:26057
- To Cite:
- TARC Citation Guide EndNote
