HJBR Mar/Apr 2022

52 MAR / APR 2022 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE ORAL HEALTH WHEN I first began introducing sleep den- tistry into my practice, it was under the head- ing of “snore guards.”This was rewarding in many ways, the best being the many grateful spouses calling to thank us! These original appliances (mandibular advancement appli- ances) work by wearing mouthguards both on the upper and lower arches connected by a hook that you could move forward, thus bringing the lower jaw forward. By do- ing this, it opens the airway of the patient and prevents snoring. Many patients at first DIALOGUE COLUMN ORAL HEALTH would proclaim that there’s no way he or she could wear something like that, but when they tried the appliance, they found not only that it was easy to get accustomed to, but it actually worked. Snoring ceased, and mar- riages were “saved.” As dentists in the profession got more into sleep dentistry, the feedback we were getting from patients was that not only were they not snoring, but they seemed to be sleeping better and waking up more rested. This led to more studies, and we eventually found Obstructive sleep apnea, a condition that affects millions of people of all ages, is often the result of dentofacial developmental deficiencies, putting dentistry on the frontline of treating this condition. The Practice of SLEEP DENT I STRY