Biometric Oral Appliance Therapy for the Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Adults

Introduction: Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is the most common form of sleep disordered breathing. Patients who arrive at the dental office with a diagnosis of OSA are often treated with a mandibular advancement device (MAD). A biomimetic oral appliance therapy (BOAT), offers an alternative non-surgical method, which can putatively resolve OSA by combined maxilla-mandibular correction, and addressing craniofacial deficiencies.

The aim: To determine whether maxilla-mandibular correction changes induced by BOAT produce a more favorable upper airway, which might result in a reduction in the severity of OSA.

Protocol: Adults who underwent an overnight sleep study and were diagnosed by a sleep specialist physician will be potential subjects for the current study. The BQ and EES will be recorded pre- and post- BOAT treatment. Subjects with mild to moderate OSA will have 2 months follow up visits and a final overnight sleep study to measure apnea-hypopnea index (AHI). The subjects will be asked to wear the appliance for 10-12 hours/day and at night. Findings will be analyzed statistically using paired t-tests.