Sleep Apnea

Obstructive apnea, is the result from attempts to breath through the occluded airway. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is actually the most common form of obstructive apnea in children. OSA is on the sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) spectrum. The sleep-disordered breathing spectrum includes things such as snoring, upper airway resistance syndrome, obstuctive hypoventilation and all its extreme, obstructive sleep apnea.  

The apnea hypopenia index or AHI is the actual total number of apneas and hypoapneas that occur divided by the total duration of sleep in hours. An AHI of 1 or less is considered normal based on the pediatric standards. An AHI of 1-5 is milf. 5-10 is mildly increased, 10-20 is  moderately increased and greater than 20 is severly abnormal. 

As a pediatric dental office, our pediatric dentist evaluates and focuses on more than just teeth. At each visit, an airway exam is completed and is just one component that can tell us about our patient's well being. Keep in mind, optimal evaluation and treatment involves looking at the patient as a whole and uses a more interdiscipliary approach wheen needed and we can recommend an ENT followup or referral.