Oral appliance therapy (OAT) for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most effective treatment second only to Positive Airway Pressure (PAP). While not universally effective, OAT can resolve OSA in more than 50% of patients. Since all oral appliances in use put orthodontic forces on the dentition, tooth movement is expected, but many other side-effects are possible. Appropriate resolution of patient complaints will improve adherence to therapy and clinical outcomes. This lecture will go over many of the side-effects of OAT, both soft and hard tissue, and give the listener better insight into troubleshooting patients’ complaints.

As a result of this webinar, participants will be able to:

1. Recognize both common and unusual side-effects of OAT
2. Identify what is the underlying cause of a patient’s complaint
3. Understand that side-effects are the most common reason for patients discontinuing OAT
4. Accept that almost all temporomandibular reaction to mandibular protrusion is self-limiting as long as the dentist takes simple, cautious action
5. Know that side-effects can occur at any point in treatment and are not isolated to initial therapy
6. Feel confidence in approaching and addressing OA side-effects

B. Gail Demko is a 1976 graduate of the Henry M. Goldman School of Dentistry in Boston, MA. She has been active in the field of dental sleep medicine since 1989 and was the first dentist to limit her practice to sleep dentistry in 1997. She is past president of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine and received the AADSM Distinguished Service Award in 2007. She has lectured worldwide and is the author of a number of papers on the topic of Oral Appliance Therapy for the treatment of OSA. Though retired from clinical practice in 2017, she continues to sit on the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine, is associate editor of the Journal of Dental Sleep Medicine, referees for multiple journals, and remains the expert advisor to the FDA in the field of OAT.