Effects of adjustable oral appliance on degree of hypoxia and the surrounding structure of the upper airway in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome
HU Juan
YAO Hai
ZHANG Yanmei
ZHAI Hao
Abstract：Objective To explore the effect of adjustable oral appliances on the degree of hypoxia and the structures around the upper airway in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome(OSAS).Methods Thirty-two patients with OSAS who visited the hospital from March 2023 to March 2024 were selected as the research subjects.They were treated with adjustable oral appliances for 6 months,and changes in polysomnography,temporomandibular joint morphology,three-dimensional morphology of the upper airway and hyoid bone position were monitored.Results At 6 months after treatment,the apnea index,hypopnea index,respiratory disorder index,respiratory arousal index,the longest duration of apnea and the proportion of non-rapid eye movement sleep in patients with OSAS were all lower than those before treatment,while the minimum blood oxygen saturation,sleep efficiency and the proportion of rapid eye movement sleep were significantly higher than those before treatment(P<0.05).At 6 months after treatment,the posterior joint space,posterior nasal spinous point-pharyngeal apex distance,posterior nasal spinous point-Ad2 point distance,posterior nasal spinous point-upper pharyngeal wall point distance,posterior airway space,posterior soft palate-posterior soft palate pharyngeal wall distance,uvula tip-middle pharyngeal wall distance,epiglottic valley-inferior pharyngeal wall distance,and anterior plane vertical distance of the hyoid cervical vertebrae of OSAS patients were all improved compared with those before treatment.However,the anterior joint space,the vertical distance between the hyoid bone and the eye and ear plane,the vertical distance between the hyoid bone and the mandibular plane,and the vertical distance between the hyoid bone and the sella turcica were all decreased compared with those before treatment(P<0.05).Conclusion Adjustable oral appliances have a significant improvement effect on the hypoxia degree and the surrounding structures of the upper airway in patients with OSAS by improving the morphology of the upper airway and enhancing airway patency,and have a relatively small impact on the morphology of the temporomandibular joint.
Keywords：obstructive sleep apnea syndromeadjustable oral appliancepolysomnographythree-dimensional morphology of upper airwaytemporomandibular jointhypoxia
Publication Date：2025-08-28
Online Publishing Date：2025-09-12(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：5( 52-56 )