Temporomandibular disorder content in the curricula of physical therapist professional programs in the United States

ABSTRACT

Objective: To describe the status of entry-level physical therapist (PT) education related to the diagnosis and management of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) in accredited, entry-level United States PT programs.

Methods: An electronic survey explored specific TMD diagnostic and management curricular content, including the use of evidence-based diagnostic criteria, opportunities for students to interact with individuals with TMD, and faculty qualifications.

Results: Eighty-four programs completed the survey. TMD content is covered in the entry-level PT curriculum of almost all (98.8%) responding programs. Content specifically related to TMD averaged 12 h across program respondents (range 1.5–50 h). The majority (68%) of respondents utilized established evidence-based diagnostic criteria.

Discussion: Consistent entry-level education guidelines related to TMD and additional post-professional education opportunities are necessary to ensure that patients with TMD are not underserved by the profession of PT by newly graduated PTs.

KEYWORDS:

• Curriculum
• physical therapy
• education
• temporomandibular disorders
• interprofessional education

Acknowledgments

We thank Trenton Fogelson, SPT for his help with data collection.

Disclosure of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

No funding was received for this study.