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Should Regular Dentists be Front Line Diagnosticians for OSA?
I am not taking a position on this one way or another. just want to open the debate. the video below seems to be of a regular dentist diagnosing and treating Sleep Apnea in his dental office:
Views: 310
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Kath Hope www.hope2Sleep.co.uk on
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Am I missing something, or isn't sleep apnea when a person sleeps??????? I hope the patients will have a full in-depth sleep study as well. There seems to be some medical loophole of who can diagnose people.
Is it a case that the dentists are trying to grab the patients first maybe to push their own treatment?
I'm all in favour of dentists warning the patients of the possibility of them having sleep apnea, but surely it would be better to get a full sleep study done, and after the results the patient would then decide which road they wish to take re treatment.
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Permalink Reply by Mary Z on
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I think this would be a valuable tool and opportunity to assess for the possibility of sleep apnea. I can even see where the two tests they do could be good diagnostic aids. I would prefer to see the patient referred to a sleep clinic or a sleep doctor rather than treated first line by the dentist. The dentist did not give a situation where he thought more aggressive treatment would be necessary. What if his test showed problems in the nasopharynx? Would he refer the patient to an ENT? He also didn't mention the possiblity that his tests would show a MAD would not be effective, I imagine this is a marketing tool, but again I would have liked to hear him mention a referral to a sleep doc.
I think sleep apnea assessment should be done on as many fronts as possible as long as proper follow up is provided. A Dental Practice, if not dedicated primarily to selling a MAD, but to finding a possible problem is a perfect place for screening.
Good topic, Mike.
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Permalink Reply by Banyon on
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If it is true that somewhere in the range of 90% of OSA cases are undiagnosed, then I am all for "getting 'em" diagnosed in a hurry even if it is in the veterinarian's office.
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Permalink Reply by RockRpsgt on
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You guys crack me up with this stuff. A dentist works on teeth. Only orthadontist and oral surgeons have medical licenses. A normal dentist should not Dx anything but bad teeth. At least the vet went to medical school.
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Permalink Reply by Tim on
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My dentist has sleep medicine training of some sort and will fit oral devices for sleep apnea, but only after the patient has seen a sleep specialist and has had a sleep study. He has also told me that he does informal screening and encourages patients that he thinks may have sleep apnea to see a sleep specialist.
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I agree that any medical person with knowledge of apnea should give a referral if the symptoms are noticed.
j n k said:Much as a good dentist will screen for oral cancer with a visual inspection, a good dentist should have an eye out for indications of any disease that involves the mouth whenever a patient opens the mouth. If a sleep disorder is suspected, a referral to a certified sleep doctor would always be in order, IMO.
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I hope my vet would say something if he saw me falling asleep in his waiting room with my dog lose or pulling on the leash or pulling me, still aseep, out of the chair. Or if I fell asleep during the exam while standing up. LOL!
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Mary Z said:Or if I fell asleep during the exam while standing up. LOL!
The vet might miss that symptom. He is used to seeing my horses sleeping while standing up. ;)
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Permalink Reply by 99 on
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clever sales pitch which goes from
measuring a problem and then fabracating a device
the measuring is no problem and this informaiton should be passed on to the sleep consultant to build up a picture of the paitent
this dentist has gone one step to far and is now pushing for a sale by fabricating a product
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Permalink Reply by Linda Osborne on
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I went to my dentist because I heard about this. I still have trouble getting used to several different masks I've tried. The way I understand it is that the regular CPAP masks/machine forces air to push the tongue forward. However I also have an issue with a dropping palate. I wasn't sure that the dental apparatus would work for me. Along with the fact that they start at $500 and are NOT covered by insurance. If this is the next greatest thing then the insurance industry should climb on board.
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