Long-term dental and skeletal effects of mandibular advancement devices in adults with obstructive sleep apnoea: A systematic review.

Objective: This systematic review aimed to clarify whether there are any significant long-term sequelae to wearing mandibular advancement devices focusing on dental and skeletal effects in adults with OSA.

Materials And Methods: Databases, including PubMed, Medline, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and SAGE Journals. Hand searches and grey literature were also used. A piloted data collection form was used to extract the appropriate data.

Results: Twenty-three reports of 19 studies were included. Five had serious risk of bias while 18 had moderate risk of bias. Meta-analysis revealed a significant change in overbite and overjet. I-squared analysis showed a high level of statistical heterogeneity. A moderate correlation was found between wear time and amount of change.

Conclusion: Mandibular advancement devices will cause a small but statistically significant change in the dentition of long-term wearers. Skeletal changes are generally secondary to dental changes.