U.S. Dental Schools Teaching little on Sleep Disorders

American adults suffer from sleep disorders and the number is quite large, around 70 million. U.S. dental schools are not teaching their graduating soon to be dentists the importance of screening their patients for sleep disorders.

A survey sent out by researchers from the University of California — Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Dentistry,  indicates that dental students spend an average of 2.9 instruction hours during their four years of dental school studying sleep disorders.

The main problem is for those 18 million Americans that suffer from Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). It estimated that 80 % to 90 % of patients with OSA are not diagnosed and this can consequently raise the patients risk for many diseases and problems.

The researchers feel since dentists see patients on a regular basis, they can notice early warning signs of sleep disorders. This greatly makes sense and thus U.S. dental schools should increase the amount of time during the 4 years of study that students receive on sleep disorders.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100605112529.htm

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