Acoustic pharyngometry ‐ A new method to facilitate oral appliance therapy

Abstract

Background There is lack of reliable and accurate methods to predict treatment outcomes of oral appliance (OA) treatment. Acoustic pharyngometry (AP) is a non‐invasive technique to evaluate the volume and minimal cross‐sectional area of the upper airway, which may prove useful to locate the optimal position of OAs. Objective This retrospective study aimed to evaluate the effect of applying AP to OA treatment of patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). Methods All patients (n = 244) treated with OAs following an AP protocol at two dental clinics between 2013 and 2018 were invited to participate. A total of 129 patients accepted the invitation, and 120 patients (75 men, 45 women) were included in the analyses. Mean baseline age, BMI and apnoea hypopnea index (AHI) were 59.1 ± 0.9 years, 27.8 ± 0.4 and 21.9 ± 1.1, respectively. Mean follow‐up time was 318 ± 24 days. Results AHI at follow‐up was 6.4 ± 0.7, resulting in a treatment success rate of 86.7% (≥50% reduction of baseline AHI). The number of failures (<50% reduction of baseline AHI) did not differ significantly among patients with mild, moderate and severe OSA. 87.6% of the patients reported OA usage every night, and 95.5% reported > 5 hours usage per night, when worn. Conclusion The AP protocol applied seems to contribute to the excellent effect of OA treatment in this study. Further research on the application of AP in OA treatment is necessary in order to clarify its possible beneficial contribution to improving OA therapy.

Oropharyngeal geometry and acoustic parameters of voice in healthy and Parkinson's disease subjects

“…AP allows the patient to breathe freely during the procedure; it is quick, low-cost (in comparison with other imaging examinations), noninvasive, and does not expose the patient to radiation as other examinations (14) . AP was first used in sleep research (12,(15)(16)(17) , but it is still little used in studies in Brazil, with recent voice-related publications (9,10) .…”

Geometria orofaríngea e parâmetros acústicos vocais de indivíduos hígidos e com doença de Parkinson

“…Além disso, a FA é um exame que permite respiração livre durante o procedimento, é rápido, de baixo custocomparativamente aos exames de imagem -não-invasivo, e não expõe o paciente à radiação como outros exames (14) . Seu uso pioneiro foi em pesquisas na área do sono (12,(15)(16)(17) , entretanto, a faringometria acústica ainda é pouco utilizada em estudos no Brasil, com recentes publicações relacionadas à voz (9,10) .…”

Comparative evaluation of the efficacy of customized maxillary oral appliance with mandibular advancement appliance as a treatment modality for moderate obstructive sleep apnea patients—protocol for a randomized controlled trial

“…Treatment options for OSA are behavioral and surgical weight loss therapies, positional therapy, pharmacological therapy, surgical therapies (Pharyngeal and maxillomandibular surgeries), Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), and oral appliances (OA) such as mandibular advancement device (MAD) [7][8][9]. Among these treatment options except for CPAP and OA, results for other non-surgical therapies are highly unsatisfactory [10]. CPAP is considered to be a gold standard treatment option for patients with OSA.…”