Kornegay Honored by American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine

Elizabeth Kornegay, second-year resident in the Master of Science in Dental Hygiene Education Program, was honored at the recent American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine (AADSM) Annual Meeting in Seattle, Wash. During the meeting, she was presented with the AADSM Student Research Award and the AADSM Research Excellence Award.

As an award recipient, Kornegay received complimentary AADSM Annual Meeting registration. She was also able to give an eight-minute presentation about her award-wining research. Additionally, she was awarded $1,000 for travel expenses, a $700 cash award, and a matching cash award for their training programs in the amount of $400. That abstract, titled Elevated Risk of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Predicts Temporomandibular Disorder Independently of Sleep Bruxism and Award Bruxism, examined the hypothesis that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) symptoms, awake bruxism and sleep bruxism at baseline were independent predictors of developing temporomandibular disorder (TMD) in initially pain-free individuals. Data were analyzed from the prospective cohort, “Orofacial Pain, Prospective Evaluation and Risk Assessment” (OPPERA).

A new finding of clinical interest was that individuals at high risk for OSA were four times more likely to report awake bruxism than individual at low risk for OSA. However, awake bruxism could not explain the association between being at high risk for OSA and the increased likelihood of developing TMD.

“I am deeply honored to receive these two awards and present the findings of the research in Seattle,” said Kornegay. “I want to thank Dr. Essick and Dr. Sanders for their guidance and dedication in my research training.”

Kornegay was mentored by Dr. Greg Essick, professor in the Department of Prosthodontics, and Dr. Anne Sanders, associate professor in the Department of Dental Ecology. OPPERA is funded by the NIH.