The teaching of temporomandibular disorders and orofacial pain at undergraduate level in Brazilian dental schools

Objectives

Evaluate the way the topics for the study of pain mechanisms in general, andOrofacial Pain (OFP) and temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) more specifically, areaddressed in undergraduate courses curricula, and also to verify the existence ofspecialist OFP/TMD teachers in Brazilian dental schools.

Methods

Between July 2010 and January 2011, course Coordinators/Directors of all dentalschools duly registered at the Ministry of Education were invited to answer aquestionnaire on topics related to OFP/TMD teaching in their institutions.

Results

Fifty-three dental schools representatives answered the questionnaire. The studyof pain mechanisms was found to cover an average of less than 10% of the courses''total time. Pharmacology, Endodontics and Physiology were identified as thedepartments usually responsible for addressing pain mechanisms in dental courses.Psychosocial aspects were found to occupy a very small proportion in the syllabi,while most of the content referred to biological or somatic aspects. OFP/TMD isaddressed by a specific department in only 28.4% of the participating dentalschools, while in most cases (46.3%), OFP/TMD is under the responsibility of theProsthodontics department. Only 38.5% of respondents indicated that they had aspecialist OFP/TMD teacher in their Schools.

Conclusion

Among the Brazilian dental schools participating in the study, the teaching ofOFP/TMD was found to be insufficient, segmented or with an extremely restrictedfocus. This initial assessment indicates that Curricular Guidelines for the studyof OFP/TMD at undergraduate dental schools should be developed and implemented tofacilitate their appropriate inclusion into the curricula and in specificpedagogical projects.