Adjunctive Therapies for Dental Sleep Appliances

Abstract

Dental sleep appliances achieve a 50% response in around 65% of patients with obstructive sleep apnea and a complete response in 35-40%. This means that all practitioners will need to augment the effect of a dental sleep appliance at some stage. There are many ways in which adjunctive therapies can be used to augment both the objective and subjective outcomes of DSA therapy. This chapter discusses the use of multiple adjunct therapies including positional therapies, positive airway pressure therapies, therapies aimed at stabilizing or improving compromised anatomy in the upper airway, and therapies aimed at improving the subjective outcomes of sleep.