An Assessment of Army Dentists' Knowledge and Opinions of Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Abstract
Objective: To establish and compare Army dentists with and without dental sleep medicine training and their current knowledge, comfort, and opinions towards screening, referring, and role in the OSA management. Methods: A knowledge and opinion-based survey about OSA was emailed to 984 Army dentists. Results: 223 dentists responded, including all experience levels and nine dental specialties. Nearly 25% of responders reported less than 5 hours of sleep medicine training. Untrained dentists were less knowledgeable, less likely to screen patients for OSA, and were more likely to report being uncomfortable screening or referring to a physician for evaluation of suspected OSA. All groups agreed dentists play a role in OSA management and increased sleep medicine training would benefit their practice. Conclusion: Our results indicate sleep medicine training would increase Army dentists knowledge and comfort in screening, referring, and managing OSA. Through these measures, access to care, readiness, and deployability of Soldiers would improve.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 25, 2023
- Accession Number
- AD1222318
Entities
People
- Jessica Bondy-carey
Organizations
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences