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Status of Sleep Apnea and Snoring Disorder Curriculum in U.S. Advanced Education Prosthodontic Programs

Now online in the Journal of Prosthodontics, Drs. Anna Manzotti, Christine Roenitz, Judy Chia-Chun Yuan, Cortino Sukotjo, Isabella da Silva Vieira Marques, Maria Alfaro, and Alvin G. Wee assess the management of sleep apnea and snoring disorders in Advanced Education Programs in Prosthodontics (AEPP) in the United States.

A 51 item, online survey was sent to program directors at 48 AEPPs in the United States in 2015. 24 programs (68.6%, N=35) reported not having a dedicated course for the treatment of sleep apnea and snoring disorders. The majority of programs chose to treat sleep disordered breathing with oral appliance therapy and customized sleep apnea oral devices. However, only about half of the programs that responded regularly address sleep apnea and snoring disorders at initial examination during the comprehensive exam and medical history questionnaire. The results suggest that patients are not screened enough to receive treatment addressing sleep disorders.

The only advanced dental education programs with CODA requirements in sleep medicine/disorders are programs that teach orofacial pain, oral and maxillofacial surgery, and prosthodontics. However, for prosthodontics, there is no specific clinical education requirement in the treatment of sleep disorders such as OSA in the CODA guidelines. The authors conclude that further assessment regarding the management of sleep disorder in the dental field in general is needed.

Manzotti A, Roenitz C, Yuan JC‐C, et al: Status of sleep apnea and snoring disorder curriculum in U.S. advanced education prosthodontic programs. Journal of Prosthodontics 2020.

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