Dental Considerations in Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA): A Literature Review

Abstract

Sleep disorders are becoming a common medical problem. Multiple treatment options have been advocated including the use of dental devices. Dental practitioners becoming a part of the treatment team is again a problem because of the wide variety of dental devices available and the rapid advancement in the understanding of the disease. This article reviews the anatomy, physiology, etiopathogenesis of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and various medical and dental treatment options. The literature review was conducted with an accepted literature research tool pubmed developed by the National Library of Medicine. Dental devices are indicated in snoring and mild to moderate OSA patients after proper medical evaluation.

Keywords: Obstructive sleep apnea, sleep apnea, sleep disorders, snoring