Letter to Editor AJODO: OSA-Whitepaper neglects option to Treat the Cause--obesity not just the Symptom--snoring. Why?

LETTER TO THE EDITOR AJO-DO

Paradigm shift: Treat the cause of sleep apnea--Obesity; not just a symptom of it--Snoring

    Dr. Rolf Behrent’s White paper*—two years in preparation—devoted to diagnosis and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a tour de force compiled from a variety of respected sources, and is a significant contribution to those who offer services to treat it. * https://bit.ly/2GUNrno.

    However, it misses the mark by its total focus on treating snoring--its most common symptom--with total disregard for treatment of its most common cause--obesity. My work demonstrates how we can treat the most common cause of OSA.

    To ignore this modality of treatment is a discredit to our profession and a disservice to our patients. In my video, OJW? Weight-Control--an Alternative Treatment for the Cause of Sleep Apnea, (https://youtu.be/MXkeBTcX0ZY), utilizing a simple appliance composed of brackets with vertical posts bonded to the canines and premolars, I show how weight control is accomplished.

     What is constraining us from moving beyond our rigid reliance on the use of the typical appliances currently provided our patients to wear each night to prevent snoring--the predominant symptom of sleep apnea--whose most common cause is obesity?

    Weight control services provided by dental professionals has the approval of 85% of persons who see a dentist regularly. A physician's written permission to the patient to begin a liquid diet is the dentist's permission to provide a weight-control appliance such as OJW, and in no way can be described as practicing medicine.

    Why are we obstinately continuing to treat only a symptom of sleep apnea when it is in our power, in many cases, to treat the cause?

    What are we waiting for?              

 Teddy Rothstein, DDS PhD,    [email protected]   ojwforweightcontrol.com 04-10-19