The Role of Dentistry in Sleep Medicine

Patients have benefitted greatly from the advances in cosmetic dentistry and implant surgery. So what’s next? In recent years there has been a growing interest in Sleep Dentistry and the role that dentists can have in improving the airway.The spiralling increase in sleep disorders & associated problems has lead to a questioning of how these could be prevented and how best to treat established conditions. Nasal breathing has long been accepted as being far 
more efficient than mouth breathing. 

Sleep Medicine

Functional orthodontists have, for many years, been aware of the useful role that they can play but this has not been accepted in more traditional circles. At the present time there is no robust data, however clinical experience does support changes in the airway.The cause of malocclusion is, as yet, unknown and is almostcertainly multi-factorial. Yet there are some factors which are common to most cases of crowding. These are a small maxilla and a retrognathic mandible. Developing the maxilla results in an improved nasal airway and correcting the mandible opens up the restricted pharyngeal airway.

Get PDF Link

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Harvesting Free Palatal Masticatory Mucosal Graft Using 3a Mucotome

Image
The technique of free autogenous gingival grafting (FGG) has undergone little modification since its introduction by Bjorn in Scandinavia in 1963 and by King and Pennel inthe United States in 1964. The technique is widely used to treat a variety of mucogingival problems such as insufficient or lack of attached gingiva, the presence of high frenum attachments, shallow fornix and denuded roots following gingival recession.  FGG can be procured from donor site using scalpels, gingivectomy knife or palatal shaving knife (Paquette knife). The donor site is frequently the palate, although the use of edentulous ridge areas, tuberosity and attached gingiva has also been described. Scalpel is most commonly used and conventional method for procuring gingival auto grafts. Gingivectomy knife, although not commonly used, also works on similar principle. Since the scalpel blade is straight and stiff and the palate is curved, repeated incisions to release the graft from underlying connecti
Read more

Dental Ailments may be risky for Cardiac Patients

Image
Patients that are suffering from cardiac t=disorders are susceptible to physical and mental stress. Dental ailments add to the stress further as these patients are unable to cope with the pain due to cardiac disorders. These patients may encounter medical emergencies in case of dental disorders and they may demand multi disciplinary approach to achieve the success. Additionally, the results of cardiac surgery may suffer if the oral cavity is not maintained well since there is always a fear of infection affecting the heart from the oral cavity. Hence, the cardiac surgeon has to refer surgical patients to a dentist for oral prophylaxis and to treat any oral infections before cardiac surgery to prevent infective endocarditis. PDF LINK
Read more

Indications for Orthognathic Surgery

Image
Orthognathic surgery (OS) is a surgical intervention that alters relationships of the jaws and dental arches. The treatment involves a combination of orthodontics and maxillofacial surgery.  Orthognathic Surgery It is used to correct dentofacial deformities that cannot be treated with acceptable results by conventional orthodontics. The first description of a surgical intervention to correct a malocclusion was by Hullihen in 1849. The most frequently used surgical procedures for correcting the relationship of the jaws are Le Fort I osteotomy and sagittal ramus split osteotomy. Also often used are vertical ramus osteotomy, inverted L osteotomy, and variations and combinations of the above. Read More>>>>>>
Read more