Sleep apnea screening has become an integral part of their clinical practice.
Understanding the signs and symptoms related to this sleep-disordered breathing disorder is essential to provide comprehensive health care to patients. Sleep apnea can manifest itself through dental indicators such as teeth grinding, tonsillar hypertrophy and jaw anatomy, and dentists are in a unique position to identify these factors.
What is Sleep Apnea?
Sleep apnea is a chronic breathing disorder characterized by partial or complete obstruction of the upper airway during sleep.
During episodes of apnea, breathing stops briefly or becomes very shallow, resulting in a decrease in blood oxygen levels. These episodes can occur multiple times during the night, disrupting sleep and negatively affecting quality of life and overall health.
Apnea-Hypopnea Index
It is common to use the Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI) to assess the severity of sleep apnea. AHI is a measure that indicates the number of apnea (complete breathing pauses) and hypopnea (partial airflow reduction) events per hour of sleep.
The AHI is used to classify sleep apnea into different severity categories.
Events by hours of sleep
Obstructive Sleep Apnea represents a major public health challenge due to its high prevalence and lack of diagnosis.
As a dentist, you can make a difference in your patients’ lives by detecting and managing Obstructive Sleep Apnea, improving their quality of life and reducing associated complications.
It is important to note that the AHI alone does not indicate the severity of symptoms or the impact on an individual’s health. When evaluating a patient with sleep apnea, it is necessary to consider other factors such as daytime symptoms, blood oxygen saturation and the presence of comorbidities.
The diagnosis of sleep apnea is made through sleep studies, such as polysomnography, which record various physiological variables during sleep, including airflow, respiration, eye movement, brain activity and blood oxygen saturation.
How to detect patients with sleep apnea?
As a dentist, you can play a key role in the early detection and treatment of sleep apnea.
In the dental clinic, there are several signs and symptoms that may indicate the presence of sleep apnea in a patient. Here are some guidelines that may help detect this disorder.
When collecting the patient’s medical history, it is important to ask specific questions about sleep-related symptoms such as loud snoring, breathing pauses during the night, excessive daytime sleepiness, chronic fatigue, and difficulty concentrating. It is also relevant to ask about family history of sleep apnea or other sleep disordered breathing.
During the consultation, the dentist may observe physical signs that may be related to sleep apnea. These may include obesity, short and wide neck, retrognathia (receding jaw) or a high palatal vault.
The dentist can perform an intraoral examination to identify possible physical features associated with sleep apnea. This may include the presence of a high, narrow palate, enlarged tonsils, or a large tongue that may block the airway.
If sleep apnea is suspected, it is important to refer the patient to a Sleep Medicine specialist for a formal sleep study. This will provide a more accurate assessment of the disorder and allow for a definitive diagnosis.
