On April 20th, Medical News Today reported that the condition known as Sleep Apnea (SA) has become a pervading common issue in public health, “affecting patients’ quality of life and potentially leading to hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and neurological disorders… In children, Sleep Apnea is often associated with learning difficulties, as well as behavioral and attention disorders.”
Studies conducted for nearly a decade in Spain concluded that of the nearly two million Spanish people showing symptoms of Sleep Apnea requiring treatment, only 5% were conclusively diagnosed. In 2009, The Snoring and Sleep Apnea Diagnosis and Treatment Unit was opened in Universidad de Barcelona’s Josep Finestres Foundation-Dental Clinic. This specialized clinic is devoted solely “to the study and treatment of respiratory sleep disorders from a novel perspective that places dentists at the center of the research, diagnosis and treatment.”
The team, initially culminating in 2000 through an informal collaboration agreement between experts Maribel Pascual and Carme Monasterio, was the first in Spain to introduce the study of treatments for respiratory sleep disorders by way of mandibular advancement devices (MAD). Pascual explained that not only are Sleep Apnea and other sleep deprivation illnesses a strain on the health of the individual, but subsequently produce a significant strain on “the healthcare system, and generate substantial expense”.
Pascual went onto explain how dentists are the key to early diagnosis and that they play a vital role in detecting diseases associated with dental health, as well as facilitating earlier and less costly treatments for snoring and Sleep Apnea. In the case of Sleep Apnea, failure to treat the disorder in its early stages can increase the cost of subsequent treatment by two to three times its initial expense.