The Current State of Dental Sleep Medicine Practice in Academic Institutions: A Questionnaire-Based Study

Abstract

Study Objectives: The aim of this study is 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 schools academic institute in the United States and Canada, 16 of which were known to have a dental sleep medicine clinic. The survey was emailed to the program directors of the sleep medicine clinics at these dental schools. For the remaining 60 schools that do not have a dental sleep medicine program, the survey was instead sent to the academic dean. The multiple choice 21-item survey was validated and received Institutional Review Board approval. Results: The response rate was 37% (28 schools), of which 86% were in the United States. Of the respondents, 45% (12 schools) had a dental sleep medicine clinic. The dental sleep medicine clinics were either an independent/ part of diagnostic services (42%) or incorporated with other departments. Almost 33% of the schools that have a sleep medicine clinic reported difficulty integrating sleep medicine into other existing programs. Eighty-three percent of respondents reported the presence of one to two board certified dental sleep medicine faculty members, whereas the remaining schools did not have any. Conclusions: This current study indicates that dental sleep medicine in academic institutions 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, the positive effect of having board-certified dental sleep medicine faculty should be noted.