Screening and comprehensive evaluation for sleep related breathing disorders.

The dentist is well positioned to screen for patients at risk for a sleep disorders, most often a sleep related breathing disorder, and when adequately trained, can treat those diagnosed with sleep apnea using an oral appliance. This treatment requires some degree of training to be able to recognize the symptoms related to the more common sleep disorders. The dentist must determine if the patient is at risk for a sleep disorder through the use of screening questionnaires, reviewing the health history, and additional questioning of the patient.

The history of sleep medicine.

Sleep medicine as it is known today actually started as research and scientific study, not as clinical medicine. When one considers that sleep medicine today is in its infancy, it is obvious that there is much more to learn. The history of sleep dates back to the 1880s.