In the first official joint guideline from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) and American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine (AADSM), oral appliance therapy is recommended for the treatment of adult patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) who are intolerant of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy or prefer alternate therapy.

This AASM and AADSM guideline supports increased teamwork between physicians and dentists to achieve optimal treatment of patients with OSA. While their recommendations were published in 2015, it is important that we make sure we are familiar with them. Their recommendations are vital to our care for our patients with sleep apnea.

The AASM and AADSM have six recommendations for dentists to follow.

  1. We recommend that sleep physicians prescribe oral appliances, rather than no therapy, for adult patients who request treatment of primary snoring (without obstructive sleep apnea). (STANDARD)
  2. When oral appliance therapy is prescribed by a sleep physician for an adult patient with obstructive sleep apnea, we suggest that a qualified dentist use a custom, titratable appliance over non-custom oral devices. (GUIDELINE)
  3. We recommend that sleep physicians consider prescription of oral appliances, rather than no treatment, for adult patients with obstructive sleep apnea who are intolerant of CPAP therapy or prefer alternate therapy. (STANDARD)
  4. We suggest that qualified dentists provide oversight—rather than no follow-up—of oral appliance therapy in adult patients with obstructive sleep apnea, to survey for dental-related side effects or occlusal changes and reduce their incidence. (GUIDELINE)
  5. We suggest that sleep physicians conduct follow-up sleep testing to improve or confirm treatment efficacy, rather than conduct follow-up without sleep testing, for patients fitted with oral appliances. (GUIDELINE)
  6. We suggest that sleep physicians and qualified dentists instruct adult patients treated with oral appliances for obstructive sleep apnea to return for periodic office visits—as opposed to no follow-up—with a qualified dentist and a sleep physician. (GUIDELINE)

For more information on their recommendations, such as the summary for each, download the document. I hope this helps moving forward for a better understanding of what the AASM and AADSM recommend for treatment of sleep apnea with oral appliance therapy.