Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

6 Feature United Kingdom Edition July 2014 You too could treat snoring and sleep apnoea British Society of Dental Sleep Medicine members explain how to add dental sleep medicine to your practice S noring isn’t just an em- barrassing, anoying noise – it’s documented to be a sign of obstructive sleep ap- noea (OSA) or airway blockage and a potential killer. It’s linked to long-term chronic disorders such as raised blood pressure, adult onset diabetes, carotid artery and increased risk of stroke. OSA, resulting in serious sleep disruption, can produce greatly impaired performance at work, at home, and on the road. Car accidents are statis- tically much more common in this group. Snoring is caused by partial airway obstruction. The severity of the health effect varies wide- ly. Dentists are perfectly posi- tioned to screen for the signs and symptoms which may pre- dict the presence of OSA and re- fer such patients to a respiratory physician for further diagnosis. If OSA is not suspected then the trained GDP is ideally placed to treat the snoring patient with a mandibular repositioning de- vice (MRD). In addition, dental sleep medicine is an interesting and rewarding skill to introduce into your practice Kirsten Rogers introduced a dental sleep medicine (DSM) service into her practice at 53 Wimpole Street, London. She says: “Starting a dental sleep medicine service in your practice is easy. Being a rela- tively new field in dentistry, it would be prudent to seek out non-commercial post-graduate courses. By attending a short course with the BSDSM you will gain a solid foundation of knowledge and be well on your way to successfully managing patients with snoring and sleep related disorders. “Joining the Society gives you access to a complete clini- cal guide so that you are ethi- cally covered and standardised for every case. It’s a non-profit organisation run by genuinely caring dentists with years of ex- perience in dental sleep medi- cine.” Granta Dental is a private practice in a residential area close to the centre of Cam- bridge and was established by Dr Helen Harrison in 1990. With her special interest in TMD and occlusal problems, Helen has always sought to give patients a much clearer understanding of the links between their den- tal experience and the function of their whole oral and cranial systems (including their breath- ing). When Dr Thomas O’Connor joined the team in 2013 he brought his knowledge and training which he gained from the BSDSM with regard to sleep apnoea and provision of man- dibular repositioning devices and Granta Dental began to provide home sleep studies with the ResMed ApneaLink moni- toring system. Helen Harrison says: “To- gether with some further train- ing with the BSDSM for all three dentists on the team and the im- plementation of its clear proto- cols and pathways for assessing and managing the presentation of sleep disorder in our patients we can now offer a much more comprehensive and clearly un- derstood approach to patient care. “Many patients are totally unaware, or in denial of, the Snoring – A Role for the GDP Presented by: Dr Ama Johal BDS, M.Sc, PhD, FDS, M.ORTH., FDS(Orth), RCS.Eng Senior Lecturer & Consultant at Barts and the London Queen Mary’s School of Medicine and Dentistry, member of the British Sleep Society Dr Johal has trained over 2,000 GDPs to use mandibular advancement splints in line with GDC, DDU & Dental Protection Limited guidelines SEMINAR DATES FOR 2014  Manchester……………….September 26  London………………………..November 7 Use booking code DT20 to reserve your place for just £236.00 Booking Hotline: 0114 250 0176 www.s4sdental.com

Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

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