Orthodontics as a Therapeutic Tool for Managing Sleep Apnea: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background and Objective: sleep apnea is a disorder in which the person's breathing is interrupted periodically at night due to the physical blockage of the airway. Determining the best way to treat their sleep disorders requires careful studies, tests, counseling and various examinations. Orthodontics is the best way to get a patient to have oral equipment. The use of orthodontic equipment is a non-surgical and effective treatment for mild to moderate sleep apnea. The aim at this study is a systematic review and meta-analysis of orthodontics as a therapeutic tool for managing sleep apnea.

Methods:  At first, all the papers (n=112) related to keywords (orthodontics therapeutic tools  and sleep apnea) were searched for English databases; Google, Google scholar, PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, PsycInfo, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews covering the period from 2010 through 2019 was studied. Then, papers related to orthodontics therapeutic tools of sleep apnea were selected and analyzed (n=8).As a result to inclusion and exclusion criteria, papers related to orthodontics therapeutic tools of sleepapnea were found and analyzed (n=8). Predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria were:  papers related to orthodontics therapeutic tools of sleepapnea, papers were English,  papers were original and all the papers were free full text.

Results: In the initial search, 112 papers were found that after reviewing the titles and abstract articles and removing repetitive and non-related ones, 26 possible related articles were investigated. Of these, 18 papers were omitted from the abstract because of lack of access to the original article and lack of sufficient information. Finally, 8 papers were included in the study. Data were collected based on study characteristics, measures of orthodontics therapeutic tools, prevalence rates and factors associated with sleep apnea. Orthodontics therapeutic tools for sleep apnea are very important and can play very significant role in health improvement. So, paying more attention to benefits of orthodontics therapeutic tools in sleep apnea is necessary. On important points is the orthodontist’s active role play in screening the patients for this disease and advice oral appliance therapy, if needed.

Conclusion: The most effective treatment for sleep apnea and snoring is orthodontics therapeutic tools. Orthodontics therapeutic tools are effective treatments for sleep apnea, snoring and night snoring. Orthodontics therapeutic tools are low cost, easy to use, portable and need little maintenance.