Can oral orthodontic appliances treat severe hypoxia?

  The oral appliance is used to treat benign snoring, mild and moderate obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. The all-night sleep monitoring can analyze the severity of sleep snoring and tell you the average number of times you have apnea greater than 10 seconds per hour throughout the monitoring period, i.e. the AHI index, where each apnea is obstructive, central or mixed, etc. According to this index, we can judge the severity of sleep apnea syndrome, and at the same time, it can tell you the blood oxygen status in the whole night sleep state, whether there is hypoxia and the degree of hypoxia.  Benign snoring means that the patient snores loudly during sleep, but the rhythm is even and there is no sudden interruption, while the sound affects the family’s sleep, and the sleep test result AHI in this case is generally below 5, which is normal. When the AHI index is 5-15, it is mild obstructive sleep apnea, and 15-30 is moderate obstructive sleep apnea.  Oral orthodontic appliance treatment has certain requirements for the patient’s teeth, oral hygiene, and joint condition. If the patient’s periodontal condition is very poor, such as red and bleeding gums, loose teeth, and multiple missing teeth, it is not suitable for wearing oral orthodontic appliance. If the patient has poor temporomandibular joint function, orthodontic appliances are also not suitable for treatment.  The main danger of sleep apnea syndrome is long-term chronic hypoxia, which can cause multi-organ diseases throughout the body. When the patient is in severe hypoxia, the oral appliance should not be the main treatment, and orthognathic surgery or ventilator treatment should be used, and the oral appliance should only be used as an auxiliary treatment method, such as wearing it occasionally when traveling.  Therefore, sleep snoring treatment should be preceded by an all-night sleep test first, and then combined with other examinations, such as cranial X-ray, CT, nasopharyngoscopy, upper airway manometry, etc., in order to determine the treatment method suitable for the patient’s own condition.