In its May issue, the Journal of the American Dental Association published a commentary on the new curriculum standards for teaching temporomandibular disorders (TMD) in US dental schools. A group of Iowa dental faculty contributed to and led this national effort on advancing predoctoral dental education in TMD.

In 2020, the Commission for Dental Accreditation (CODA) approved Revised Standard 2-24k to include the teaching of TMD in the predoctoral curriculums of all US dental schools by July 2022.

To help schools implement this new CODA standard, the American Academy of Orofacial Pain (AAOP) formed an expert task force (Committee on TMD Predoctoral Education) to develop a competency-based core curriculum for predoctoral education in TMD to train future clinicians on providing excellent evidence-based care for their patients with TMD. This new predoctoral TMD core curriculum was published in the Journal of Oral & Facial Pain and Headache in Winter 2021.

“Graduates of all US accredited dental school will understand the basic mechanisms, etiology, evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of TMDs. They will apply the latest evidence-based knowledge and collaborate with orofacial pain specialists and pertinent health professionals in caring for and preventing TMDs.” Competency-based Core Curriculum Standard

A group of UI faculty have led the AAOP Committee on TMD Predoctoral Education and contributed significantly to this work. Hong Chen, assistant professor in preventive and community dentistry, and James Fricton ('78 DDS) served as co-chairs for this committee. Steven Levy, Sandra Guzman-Armstrong, and David Holmes served as committee members. Many other UI faculty and students also contributed to this effort.