A singular oral appliance to treat obstructive sleep apnea in CPAP non-adherent patients

Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Cardiovascular Diseases: What, When, and Why Is Mandibular Advancement Device Treatment Required? A Short Review

Obstructive sleep apnea is a potentially dangerous condition with significant risks of comorbidities if left untreated. It represents a cardiovascular risk factor in the general population, and a higher prevalence is observed in patients already suffering from cardiovascular diseases. The gold standard treatment, continuous positive airway pressure, is not always accepted or tolerated. The mandibular advancement device represents an alternative treatment that we propose to implement in our study. The objective here is to first present a brief review of the topic. Due to poor evidence in the field, we propose a pilot study to evaluate the effect of a mandibular advancement device in patients with cardiovascular disease who are not treated for their sleep pathology in order to improve their therapeutic management.

Effectiveness of a Uniquely Designed Oral Appliance on Obstructive Sleep Apnea Control: A Pilot Study

Objectives  Obstructive sleep apnea is an inflammatory, chronic, and evolutive disease often needing adequate treatment and follow-up. The oral appliance (OA) is an accepted alternative therapy for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) control. Due to greater adherence, OA with mandibular advancement (OA _m ) is being recommended treatment for patients who refuse or do not tolerate continuous positive airway pressure. The mode of action of OA _m is to promote the advancement of the mandible or tongue with a subsequent increase in the tone of the pharyngeal muscles and the permeability of the upper airway, but most OA _m use conventional models as reference, analogic, or digital, dissociating dental arches of the skull structures.

Materials and Methods  A retrospective longitudinal study of 33 OSA patient treated with a different OA _m , that use Camper plane as reference with skull structures for dental arches disocclusion, where polysomnographic, cephalometric measures, and subjective data from questionnaires pre- and post-treatment were assessed and correlated. Descriptive analysis, correlated Chi-square tests, and basic statistics were used. Generalized linear mixed model for repeated measure and post hoc Tukey–Kramer test compares the variables pre- and post-treatment. Shapiro–Wilk test and Pearson's correlation coefficients were used. All statistical tests were set in 5% level of significance.

Results  Regarding polysomnography data, there was a significant association between apnea hypopnea index (AHI) with oxygen saturation, arousal index (AI) and the maximum heartbeats, and sleep improvement and health risk reduction. Additionally, from cephalometric data, it was found a significant association between the tongue posture with the soft palate, hioyd-C3 and, lower and posterior airway. When both parameters are correlated, there are a significant dependent association with hyoid bone position with AHI and AI. The limitation of this study was the two-dimensional image used without provide volumetric measurements, but this limitation was reduced with the follow-up polysomnography parameters.

Conclusion  In this pilot study, DIORS OA _m as an uniquely designed device using Camper plane as a reference for disocclusion was effective in the control of OSA.

The Law of Minimum Vertical Dimension: Evidence for Improvement of Dental Occlusion

The law of minimum vertical dimension (MVD) states that “when the mandible moves to reach the maximum intercuspal position, this always involves bringing the mandible and maxilla as close together as possible.” Therefore, after the first occlusal contact is made, the MIP will be reached through reduction of the vertical dimension. Our objective of this study, through an integrative review of the literature review, was to determine whether ignoring this law is a factor that contributes to malocclusion, temporomandibular joint dysfunction, and recurrences of functional orthodontic and orthopedic treatments.We conducted a search of the literature in five of the main electronic scientific databases. The following medical subject heading terms were used in our search: centric relation, dental occlusion, malocclusion, vertical dimension, and mastication. We cross-referenced the descriptors in the following four groups: centric relation and maximum intercuspation; occlusal plane and malocclusion; neuro-occlusal rehabilitation; and vertical dimension and unilateral chewing. From this, we selected 277 potentially eligible articles. Out of these, 209 were excluded in accordance with the exclusion criteria already described. Thus, 65 studies were included in the qualitative synthesis.The articles were also classified according to their impact factor and degree of recommendation, in conformity with the table of the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. The scientific interest in the scope of the articles was also assessed by using three charts developed according to year and country of publication and the percentage of publication. Unilateral chewing creates a vicious cycle of damage that leads to an ever-increasing masticatory deficiency. Most of the articles chosen for this review confirmed that noncompliance with law of MVD was a predisposing factor in cases of relapse, in functional orthodontic and orthopedic treatments, as well as a causal factor in malocclusion and in functional and morphological TMJ dysfunctions.