Open Collections

Kim, Da In

University of British Columbia

Study Objectives: It has been speculated that changes to the dental arch form following orthodontic treatment with extractions may have negative effects on the upper airway space. With relation to obstructive sleep apnea, a reduced oral cavity volume could potentially lead to posterior positioning of the tongue and an increased pharyngeal collapsibility. This study used level-3 polysomnography to characterize the functional changes to the airway while wearing an oral appliance simulating severe arch constriction. Methods: For this pilot single-blinded prospective randomized cross-over trial, 34 participants were recruited from the student/staff population of the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of British Columbia. Epworth Sleepiness Scale, STOPBANG questionnaire, lateral cephalograms and digital dental casts were gathered from all subjects. Arch constriction was simulated by adding 5mm to lingual aspects of the dentition using vacuum-formed retainers (VFR). Each participant completed three at-home sleep studies with a level-3 sleep monitor: The initial baseline test, and after random allocation of 6-days wearing either the control appliance (regular VFR), or the simulated arch constriction appliance (thick VFR; SAC), following a crossover of appliances. Oxygen Desaturation Indices and respiratory events index (REI) were compared between sleep studies. Results: Use of the SAC appliance did not affect airway function: There was no significant difference (p>0.05) in REI between three groups: baseline vs. control vs. SAC. Five participants were found to have sleep disordered breathing (REI values 35.0) on at least one sleep study, however this was unrelated to appliance use. Conclusions: Simulated constriction of dental arches did not result in significant changes of the REI. Clinical Significance: Constriction of the dental arches does not negatively affect airway function during sleep.

Text

2024-07-30

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/88733

Craniofacial Science

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/