July 20, 2020

Airway – Dentistry’s Elephant in the Room – PDP033

56 minutes

At Dental School I was taught that we have 2 opportunities as clinicians to save a patient’s life. One was mouth cancer diagnosis (obviously) and the other was a patient with GORD who may develop Barrett’s Oesophagus. However, as I look back now, I do believe dental school missed something out….and that is Sleep Disordered Breathing (SDB).

There is no formal acknowledgement of Airway in the dental curriculum.

https://youtu.be/TKiX-J046JA

Full Episode on the YouTube channel and soon to be on Dentinal Tubules for 1 hour of Enhanced CPD/CE

What you will learn from this episode with a leader in this field Prof Ama Johal is that a team approach is needed. If the Sleep Physician is Team Leader, we as Dentists are SECOND in the pecking order, above ENT! That signifies the massive role we have to play in treating SDB. We discuss:

How and why did Prof Ama Johal get in to this micro-niche of Airway within Dentistry

Brief overview of anatomy with the ‘party balloon’ analogy

What is Dental sleep medicine? What is sleep disordered breathing and sleep apnoea

What is the contribution we can make in the dental profession? Is it just mandibular advancement splints?

What is a CPAP

What is the effectiveness or oral appliances vs CPAP?

Why is the training at undergraduate level in both MEDICINE and DENTISTRY lacking?

What are the barriers to Dentists who want to help patients with Sleep disordered breathing?

How can we significantly improve the lives of some of our patients?

What is the association between parafunction and sleep disordered breathing

Should YOU get involved in treating the airway for your dental patients?

Does premolar extraction orthodontics adversely affect the airway?

What about children with massive tonsils/adenoids causing airway obstruction?

Prof Ama Johal is highly regarded within Orthodontics and dentistry, for the standard of his clinical work and published research. He is the Vice President of the British Society of Dental Sleep Medicine (BSDSM) and Professor at Bart’s and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Resources and Downloads:

British Society of Dental Sleep Medicine

S4S Course Snoring & Obstructive Sleep Apnoea – a Role for the GDP – listeners of the podcast can get 50% until the end of August 2020 – use coupon code ME50 (this is not an affiliate link and I do not get commission from this – I am thankful to S4S for offering this to the community)

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