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Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy for Sleep-Related Breathing Disorders

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Dental Sleep Medicine

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Abstract

This chapter explores the use of orofacial myofunctional therapy in the treatment of sleep -related breathing disorders. Current literature demonstrates orofacial myofunctional therapy (OMT) decreases apnea-hypopnea index, reduces daytime sleepiness and snoring, arousal index, improvement in quality of sleep and quality of life in both children and adults. Oxygen saturation and snoring improve in adults. Orofacial myofunctional therapy increases adherence to continuous positive airway pressure and assists in forward-tongue position in conjunction with a dental sleep appliance. OMT is noninvasive and inexpensive. There is increasing evidence to support the use of OMT as adjunctive therapy in the multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of sleep-related breathing disorders.

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Abbreviations

AHI:

Apnea-hypopnea index

CPAP:

Continuous positive airway pressure

ESS:

Epworth sleepiness scale

OMD:

Orofacial myofunctional disorders

OMT:

Orofacial myofunctional therapy

OSA:

Obstructive sleep apnea

PSG:

Polysomnography

SRBD:

Sleep-related breathing disorders

ta-VNS:

Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation

TRM:

Tongue repositioning maneuver

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Private Practice OM Health, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Rochelle McPherson

  2. Australian Academy of Orofacial Myology, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Rochelle McPherson

Authors
  1. Rochelle McPherson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rochelle McPherson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center For TMJ & Sleep Therapy, Glendora, CA, USA

    G. Gary Demerjian

  2. Craniofacial Pain & Dental Sleep Center, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Mayoor Patel

  3. Dental Group of Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Francesco Chiappelli

  4. Department of Oral Biology and Medicine, UCLA School of Dentistry, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    André Barkhordarian

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McPherson, R. (2022). Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy for Sleep-Related Breathing Disorders. In: Demerjian, G.G., Patel, M., Chiappelli, F., Barkhordarian, A. (eds) Dental Sleep Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10646-0_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10646-0_15

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-10645-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-10646-0

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