Oral Appliance For Sleep Apnea And Bruxism

As a best practices approach towards overall patient health the profession of dentistry has an opportunity and responsibility to address obstructive sleep apnea and related sleep bruxism.

Oral appliance for sleep apnea and bruxism. Sleep bruxism is an oral health problem to be sure. Oral appliance therapy is an oral device prescribed by a sleep physician and fitted by a dentist so that it can be comfortably worn during sleep. Studies show that patients with both bruxism and sleep apnea can dramatically improve both. The device treats obstructive sleep apnea by moving the lower jaw slightly forward keeping the airway open.

Simmons jh prehn r airway protection. But it is also considered a sleep related movement disorder characterized by uncontrolled involuntary physical movement during sleep in this case movement of the jaws. Each state is different when it comes to recommending an oral sleep appliance for your patients. Sleep 32 abstract suppl a218.

In the majority of situations you can send a take home sleep study kit with your patient. Osa mild to moderate and bruxism. The luco hybrid osa appliance a two part mandibular advancement dorsal type device has actually been fda cleared for both indications. Many types of oral appliances are prescribed to treat various conditions.

Sleep bruxism and sleep apnea. Can a dentist diagnose sleep apnea. In this session we will review the different indications for oral appliances including sleep apnea and temporomandibular joint disorders tmds. Oral appliances for sleep apnea are sometimes used off label for bruxism therapy.

As someone who suffers from both bruxism and complex sleep apnea that s both described kinds of sleep apnea as well as an additional form that causes the breaths i do take from being too shallow to get adequate oxygen i would like to suggest an additional cause for the link between bruxism and sleep apnea that i have yet to see mentioned in any article. What is the significance of the relationship between sleep apnea and sleep bruxism. Until future research uncovers the exact nature of the relationship between sleep apnea and sleep related bruxism it is hard to know whether the correlation between them is clinically important.