Tongue measurement can help design treatment appliance for sleep apnea

Written by: David Castillo on June 11th, 2010

Tongue measurement can help design treatment appliance for sleep apnea | read this item

Measuring the tongue can help dentists supply an oral appliance to treat sleep apnea, according to recent research.

Lead author Whitney Mostafiz says that a mandibular advancement splint is a safe and effective treatment for sleep apnea as long as certain anatomical factors are considered.

Mostafiz said in a statement: “While this study re-affirms the difficulties in predicting obstructive sleep apnea treatment response to mandibular advancement splints, responders seem to have a larger tongue volume for a given oral cavity site, suggesting that mandibular advancement splints may help correct anatomical imbalances.”