Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Abstract

Obstructive sleep apnea is an under recognized and under diagnosed medical condition, with a myriad of negative consequences on patients health and society as a whole. The most acting reason behind Obstructive sleep apnea given as in literature is due to recurrent episodes of upper airway (UA) collapse during sleep. Episodes may last 10 seconds or longer and commonly last 30 seconds or longer. From the mid-1990s to the present, we have seen an explosion of basic, clinical, and population research directed toward the prevalence, causes, consequences, and treatment of this long-standing, although only recently appreciated, problem. Sleep apnea has attracted a myriad of researchers from diverse disciplines and clinical subspecialties. At the same time, sleep apnea as a serious, undefined clinical problem has also given birth to many sleep medicine clinics throughout the western world. Finally, given the relatively high prevalence of this sleep-specific problem with potential carryover to daytime pathology, sleep apnea has provided great impetus to the growth of sleep medicine as a clinical and research specialty. Dentists have been involved in the collaborative evaluation and treatment of patients with OSA using oral appliances from 1980. Importantly, dentists play a crucial role in evaluating patients with OSA for the suitability of appliance therapy, choosing and adjusting the appliance and assessing the patient for adverse effects. To accomplish holistic treatment approach it is essential that dentists and the sleep medicine physician should work collaboratively. When this occurs, patients will have the best opportunity for the effective treatment of their OSA.