New studies show that dental visits might be crucial in detecting serious sleep disorders.
A patient may fall asleep in the dental chair, feeling anxious about an upcoming procedure. This seemingly ordinary behavior carries significant implications for dentists who are familiar with current sleep studies, signaling a potential life-threatening issue.
According to a review published in the Journal of the American Dental Association, researchers from Rutgers Health have recognized dentists as unexpected allies in combating severe sleep disorders.
The review recommends that dental professionals take advantage of their unique position to screen for conditions like obstructive sleep apnea, which impacts millions of Americans and is associated with serious health complications like heart disease and neurodegeneration.
It encourages dental practitioners to extend their focus beyond oral health to a patient’s overall well-being.
“This is a remarkable opportunity for us to positively impact people’s lives,” stated Davis Thomas, a clinical associate professor from the Rutgers School of Dental Medicine and the review’s senior author. “Dentists can serve as a crucial first line of defense in spotting sleep disorders. They often detect warning signs long before medical doctors do. Symptoms such as teeth grinding, a scalloped tongue, or even a patient sleeping in the chair may suggest deeper issues at play.”
Sleep disorders like obstructive sleep apnea affect more than half of the U.S. population at some point, with many cases remaining undiagnosed. However, dental professionals can significantly assist in lowering these undiagnosed rates.
The review highlights several crucial signs that dental care providers should look for during patient evaluations, such as enlarged jaw muscles, scalloped edges on the tongue, white lines on the inside of the cheeks, limited visibility of the throat, wear patterns on teeth, and small cracks in teeth.
These physical indicators, when combined with patient history and easy screening methods, can enable dentists to identify at-risk individuals with up to 80 percent accuracy.
“It’s no longer just about examining teeth,” Thomas emphasized. “We need to assess the entire patient, monitoring their behavior in the waiting room and noticing subtle cues in their oral health.”
Another concerning factor identified by the review is bruxism, or teeth grinding. Research suggests that this condition is often a symptom of deeper sleep-related issues rather than merely a dental alignment problem, as previously thought.
“We have for too long treated the symptoms without addressing the underlying causes,” Thomas remarked. “By gaining a better understanding of the neuroscience behind sleep disorders, we can enhance treatment and possibly avoid severe health issues.”
This change in viewpoint could lead to significant benefits. By identifying patients at risk for sleep disorders, dentists can initiate early interventions that may prevent issues like high blood pressure, heart ailments, and strokes.
To apply these insights, Thomas and his team suggest a straightforward approach for dental practices: add sleep-related inquiries to patient history forms. Additional advice includes training dental personnel to recognize physical signs of sleep disorders and utilizing established screening tools like the STOP-BANG questionnaire, which assesses the risk of obstructive sleep apnea, and developing referral connections with sleep specialists.
“We are not asking dentists to diagnose sleep disorders,” Thomas clarified. “We want them to notice the signs and make suitable referrals. This simple action can be lifesaving.”
For those dentists interested in integrating sleep evaluations into their practices, Thomas advises starting with education.
“Participate in sleep medicine conferences, pursue continuing education opportunities, and keep abreast of the latest research,” he urged. “The more we understand, the more we realize how much remains to be learned – and how we can assist our patients.”
