HOME SLEEP TESTING & DENTISTRY
actively discussing this
condition unless a patient
specifically mentions it.
Jiten Master, DDS, MS
Everyone agrees that
Sleep Related Breathing
Disorders (SRBD) are
a significant medical
problem. The position
proposed by the AASM
and AMA preventing
dentists from ordering
Home Sleep Apnea Tests
(HSATs) ignores the
following facts:
The number of US adults
that have SRBDs is
growing rapidly due to an
increasingly obese and
aging population.
The number of sleep
specialists has been, thus
far, insufficient to cope
with the current problem
and is not set to handle
the increase in incidence.
Primary care physicians
are starting to realize
the significance of the
problem but too few are
We have become
increasingly aware of the
medical effects of dental
disease and vice versa.
The frequent causative
factors of SRBD lie within
the head and neck area,
the realm of dental
training. Oral cancer is
a medical condition, yet
dentists can identify and
carry out basic tests to
identify this “medical
condition” and then, of
course, if sufficiently
trained and educated,
could treat. But there
is no provision for this
training and education
in Sleep Medicine in the
position that has been
taken, it merel