Dental caries status in adults with sleep apnea – hypopnea syndrome

BACKGROUND: A study is made of dental caries in a group of adults with sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (SAHS), establishing comparisons with healthy individuals corresponding to the same population. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A case-control series was analyzed, including patients with recently diagnosed SAHS and individuals without SAHS. Dental examinations were made to record the DMF (decayed, missing, filled) dental score, and demographic, lifestyle and clinical data were collected. RESULTS: A total of 114 participants (60 SAHS cases and 54 controls) were included in the study. Although the mean DMF score in the SAHS group was higher than in the control group (7.03 versus 4.81, respectively), the multivariate regression analysis did not find the difference to be statistically significant (p=0.351). However, a significant correlation was observed between the DMF score and age (r=0.41; p<0.001) and the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI)(r=0.31; p=0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Older age and greater severity of SAHS are associated to higher DMF scores. However, the diagnosis of SAHS alone does not influence dental caries status. Key words:Dental caries, sleep apnea syndrome, oral health, DMF index.