Abstract
Objectives: Since 2003, the outpatient Department of Orthodontics at Iwate Medical University, Uchimaru Medical Center Hospital has provided oral appliance （OA） therapy for patients with obstructive sleep apnea （OSA）. This study investigated the treatment trends of OA therapy for patients with OSA at our institution.
Methods: The participants were patients with OSA who received OA therapy at our department between January 2003 and December 2023.
The survey examined the annual number of patients, sex distribution, age distribution, OSA severity, referring medical institution, and prefecture distribution.
Results: In total, 1,091 patients with OSA （674 men and 417 women） received OA therapy, with a man-to-woman ratio of 1.6:1. Since 2003, the number of patients receiving OA therapy has been increasing. By age group, the number of patients peaked in the 50-54 age group. Mild cases were the most common severity in both sexes. Most referrals were from nearby medical clinics, and 946 patients （86.7％） were from Iwate Prefecture.
Conclusions: Patients with OSA undergoing OA therapy were primarily middle-aged and older adults, with a higher proportion of men. Mild cases were the most common; however, approximately 16.8％ of patients had severe OSA. The findings suggest that patients with low adherence to nasal continuous positive airway pressure therapy opted for OA therapy. Referrals were mainly from external medical clinics, reflecting the well-established medical system for OSA treatment at our institution.
