PolySom Diagnostics, LLC
DIAGNOSING OSA / for the Dental Proffesional
What is Sleep Apnea and why is it so harmful?
Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that affects a person’s breathing during sleep. It can lead to conditions such as, congestive heart failure, atrial fibrillation, stroke, renal disease, high blood pressure, depression, productive and relationship issues and a general decrease in the quality of life. It also plays an increasing role in traffic and mechanical accidents.
Sleep apnea is divided into two categories and is caused by 2 different mechanisms. Obstructive sleep apnea, (OSA) is caused by an obstruction of the airway, something blocks the air flow. Central sleep apnea has a neurological cause. We are interested in the OSA.
It is estimated that close to 10% of the population of the US suffers from sleep apnea. Eighty percent of this number is OSA. Also, the majority of persons afflicted with this malady don’t know they have it!!
What does this have to do with you and how can you do to help with this deadly but silent disease?
As we have seen, the majority of those who suffer with sleep apnea don’t know they have it until it is severe. Generally physicians seeing these patients are treating diseases resulting from sleep apnea. Until recently the medical profession was unaware of severity and pervasiveness of sleep apnea. And even today it is far too often undiagnosed.
This is where you come into the picture. The medical profession is slowly becoming more aware of sleep apnea and its associated devastating effects. However, they only see a limited percent of the population and generally after they have become severe and developed additional complications. Dentists and their staff on the other hand, see a different demographic. Your patients may indeed have sleep apnea but until they become symptomatic they don’t know it. With proper screening, you can detect OSA. With proper diagnose and treatment the disease process can be arrested before secondary disease processes develop! You have simple and effective treatments that can stop the progression of this disease. This proactive approach can prevent great suffering and tremendous expense to your patients and reduce the overall cost of healthcare in this country today!
Who are we and how can we support your efforts?
Polysom Diagnostics is a home sleep testing service that assists you in your efforts to treat your patients who might be suffering from OSA. With your screening and our testing of these patients you can diagnose OSA and begin a treatment protocol. Our post treatment testing documents effectiveness of the treatment and assists with the fine tune that treatment.
Screening tools that are useful in evaluating your patients
There are some very simple screening tools that you can use to evaluate your patients' risk of OSA. These questionnaires are easy to use and very accurate is assessing the need for further diagnosis and testing.
The Epworth Scale Questionnaire
The Berlin Questionnaire
The Stop-Bang Questionnaire
Summary
The dental industry can have a tremendous impact on the overall healthcare of their patients and the population in general if they will provide this service. You have the opportunity to catch this silent but deadly disease and provide treatment at a stage where treatment is simple, easy and inexpensive. Your treatment also prevents the complications that are so devastating and costly later in this disease process.