Dental sleep medicine education among undergraduate dental students in France
Eur J Dental Education. 2023-06-23; :
DOI: 10.1111/eje.12931
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François C(1)(2)(3), Bonafé I(2)(3)(4), Carra MC(5)(6)(7), Bertrand C(8)(9)(10), Micoulaud-Franchi JA(11)(12)(13), d’Incau E(9)(10)(11)(13).
Author information:
(1)PhyMedExp, INSERM U1046, CNRS UMR9214, Université de Montpellier,
Montpellier, France.
(2)UFR of Odontology, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France.
(3)Centre de Soins, d’Enseignement et de Recherche Dentaires, CHU de
Montpellier, Montpellier, France.
(4)Unité de recherche «Aide à la décision médicale personnalisée» EA 2415,
Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France.
(5)INSERM – Sorbonne Paris Cité Epidemiology and Statistics Research Centre,
Paris, France.
(6)UFR of Odontology, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France.
(7)Department of Periodontology, Service of Odontology, Rothschild Hospital
(AP-HP), Paris, France.
(8)Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, ICMCB, UMR 5026, Talence, France.
(9)UFR of Odontological Sciences, Univ. Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
(10)Service of Oral Medicine, University Hospital of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
(11)Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, SANPSY, UMR 6033, Bordeaux, France.
(12)UFR of Medical Sciences, Univ. Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
(13)University Sleep Clinic, University Hospital of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
INTRODUCTION: Dental sleep medicine (DSM) is an emerging discipline that studies
the oral and maxillofacial causes and consequences of sleep-related problems.
DSM is of upmost importance given the major medical challenge it represents.
Therefore, to verify whether the future generation of dentists would be ready to
face this challenge, the main objective of this study was to assess the degree
of involvement of the French dental schools in teaching DSM at the undergraduate
level.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: All 16 dental schools in France were asked to participate
in the study by answering to an online survey concerning the DSM curriculum
during the 2018-2019 academic year. The survey was addressed to the head of the
dental school and/or to relevant course coordinators and contained 10 questions
related to the type, content and amount of DSM teaching to undergraduate dental
students.
RESULTS: Nine of the 16 (56.2%) French dental schools responded to the
questionnaire. All these nine reported the inclusion of DSM in their
undergraduate curriculum. The total average hours dedicated to teaching DSM was
5.6 h (SD 4.2; range 1-15 h). Seven of the 9 dental schools spent most of their
DSM curriculum teaching time in the fifth year. All of them reviewed obstructive
sleep apnoea and sleep-related bruxism and covered some topics related to
therapies for sleep-related breathing disorders, such as the use of oral
appliance.
CONCLUSION: The results of this survey showed that, although the average hourly
volume is relatively high, the DSM teaching in French dental schools appeared to
be non-standardised, heterogeneous and often lacunar. It is therefore essential
to develop a common curriculum and implement it in all dental schools to provide
undergraduate students a comprehensive and updated teaching in DSM.
© 2023 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
DOI: 10.1111/eje.12931
PMID: 37353975