Do dental parameters predict severity of obstructive sleep apnea and mandibular advancement device therapy outcomes? A pilot study

BACKGROUND: Mandibular Advancement Devices (MAD's) are oral appliances commonly used in treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). OSA severity and certain other factors, such as BMI and neck circumference, correlate with MAD therapy success. So far, the predictive value of dental parameters, such as dental profile, molar‐classification, overjet, overbite, maximal retrusion, maximal protrusion and protrusive range, has not been fully investigated. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to investigate whether dental parameters influence OSA severity and MAD therapy outcome and could therefore be helpful in phenotyping OSA patients. Furthermore, we studied the predictive power of dental parameters for OSA severity and successful MAD therapy. We hypothesise that specific dental parameters correlate with more severe OSA and with more successful MAD treatment. METHODS: We performed a cohort study, including OSA patients diagnosed by polysomnography (PSG). Dental parameters were collected. Objective treatment outcome was collected by performing a PSG with MAD after three months of therapy. Differences between OSA severity groups and MAD treatment outcomes were analysed and dental parameters were correlated between groups. RESULTS: The relation between dental parameters and OSA severity was analysed in 143 patients, fifty patients had a PSG with MAD in situ after a 3‐month therapy. The median baseline Apnea Hypopnea Index (AHI) significantly reduced from 17.6 (8.7–29.3) to 11.1 (5.5–17.5). Overbite and maximal retrusion differed significantly between mild, moderate and severe OSA. Other dental parameters did not differ significantly between the groups, nor correlated with OSA severity or MAD treatment outcome. CONCLUSION: In this study, no correlation between dental parameters and OSA severity or MAD treatment outcomes was found. Therefore, screening patients for OSA and MAD treatment outcome based on dental parameters is currently not possible.