Medical‐dental collaboration in examination and therapy for sleep apnea syndrome

Abstract

We opened the Sleep Apnea Outpatients Clinic in the Department of Internal Medicine at Osaka Dental University Hospital in April of 2019 in collaboration with the Sleep Dentistry Center to examine and treat sleep apnea syndrome (SAS). Two step examinations are performed, a simple examination and a polysomnography (PSG) examination. The simple examination, screens for SAS and determines the efficacy of oral appliances (OA) using three apnea parameters, the apnea hypopnea index (AHI), the lowest oxygen saturation, and the hypopnea index (3%ODI), all three of which have a strong correlation. In the PSG examination, apnea parameters correlate with those of the simple examination, while sleep parameters do not correlate with apnea parameters.

Over 21 months, we performed 135 simple examinations and 33 PSG examinations. The collaboration of medical and dental experts in the field will result in effective examination and therapy. Shika Igaku (J Osaka Odontol Soc) 2022; Sep; 85(2): 117-122.