Early screening and treatment methods of pediatric sleep-disordered breathing(SDB) in dental office

Ong, Seung-Hwan; Kim, Young-Jae

doi:2023.61.5.328

J Korean Dent Assoc > Volume 61(5); 2023 > Article

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

The Journal of The Korean Dental Association 2023;61(5):328-342.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22974/jkda.2023.61.5.001 Published online April 30, 2023.

치과에서의 소아 수면호흡장애 조기 선별법과 치료법

옹승환

, 김영재

서울대학교 치의학대학원 소아치과학교실

Early screening and treatment methods of pediatric sleep-disordered breathing(SDB) in dental office

Seung-Hwan Ong

, Young-Jae Kim

Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University

Correspondence: Young-Jae Kim, Tel: +82-2-2072-3080, Fax: +82-2-744-3599,
Email: neokarma@snu.ac.kr

Received: 10 January 2023 • Revised: 16 January 2023 • Accepted: 4 April 2023

Abstract

Pediatric sleep-disordered breathing(SDB) is a common sleep disorder in children caused by obstruction of upper airway during sleep. It is often unrecognized early in life and causes various complications, including abnormal craniofacial growth and oral muscle dysfunctions. Dentist can play a significant role in managing SDB by early screening SDB risk factors and timely referring for diagnosis. SDB risk factors can be easily screened in dental office through medical history, sleep history, physical factors, sleep questionnaire, and cephalometric x-ray. In case of abnormal craniofacial development, rapid maxillary expansion, oral appliances, and myofunctional therapy can be used to reduce SDB symptoms and restore normal craniofacial development and muscular tones. Understanding continuous interaction between oral-facial muscle tone, maxillary-mandibular growth and development of SDB is important in managing pediatric SDB. The ultimate goal of pediatric SDB treatment is to change mouth breathing to nasal breathing, and a multidisciplinary approach in medicine and dentistry is necessary.

Key Words: Sleep-disordered breathing; Obstructive sleep apnea; Sleep disorder; Mouth breathing; Craniofacial growth