Impact of soft palate visibility and tongue position on early diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea among patients with tooth loss - An observational preliminary study.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) was estimated to affect 15% to 30% of males and 5% to 15% of females with prevalence increasing with progressive tooth loss and its early identification can reduce the sequalae of OSA. Apnea-hypopnea index is confirmatory but unsuitable for clinical settings to detect OSA and concise screening tools are required to detect OSA in edentulous patients.

Aim: To evaluate the impact of soft palate visibility and tongue position on incidence of OSA among edentulous patients.