Governmental and Private Dentists’ Knowledge, Educational Background, Opinion, and Clinical Experience toward Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Oral Appliances
ABSTRACT Aim The aims of this study were to determine the knowledge, educational background, opinion, and clinical experience of general practice dentists toward obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and oral appliances (OAs). Materials and methods A cross-sectional study was carried out through a questionnaire which was distributed randomly to 200 general practice dentists both in public and private dental clinics at Qassim, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. About 175 completed questionnaires were returned. The data were statistically analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Results The results showed that only 48.6% of our governmental and private dentists were familiar with the term OSA with a statistical significance among governmental dentists (37.9%) who were more familiar with OSA signs and symptoms than private (21.1%) dentists (p < 0.016). In addition, the majority of the respondents (90.9%) reported a general lack of education in both OSA and OAs during their study in the dental school. A total of 142 (81.1%) dentists never prescribed OAs for OSA patients. However, 87.4% have never consulted or referred a suspected OSA patient to physicians. Conclusion General practice dentists surveyed possess poor knowledge and low clinical experience regarding OSA and OAs, which reflects the weak level of education in this field of dental sleep medicine. How to cite this article Banabilh SM, Al-afaleg R. Governmental and Private Dentists’ Knowledge, Educational Background, Opinion, and Clinical Experience toward Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Oral Appliances. J Contemp Dent 2017;7(3):139-143.