Sleep Dentistry News: Sleep Apnea Can Increase Fatality Risk by Nearly Half

According to a report from Reuters, for patients with severe sleep apnea, the risk of death is 46% greater than for those without sleep apnea. This statistic is not valid for patients with mild to moderate sleep apnea. “Severe” assumes that the patient stops breathing about every two minutes, or 30 times per hour, while asleep. The study by Naresh Punjabi of John Hopkins University found that men in the 40-to-70 age range face the greatest risk.

For severe cases, dental appliances (sleep guards) are not listed in Dr. David Rapoport’s list of treatments. Dr. Rapoport, of New York University, worked on the John Hopkins research team. He suggests weight loss, CPAP, or surgery as treatment options. The Reuters article does, however, note a “small Canadian company, Victhom Human Biotics Inc.” is patenting a sleep apnea detection device outside of a sleep lab. It also notes Medtronic for sleep apnea appliances.

You can learn more about diagnosing and treating sleep apnea as a dentist by visiting these websites:

Snoring Isn’t Sexy (www.snoringisntsexy.com)
Dental Organization for Sleep Apnea (www.apneadocs.com)
American Sleep Apnea Association (www.sleepapnea.org)
American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine (www.aadsm.org)