Mandibular Advancement Devices (MAD) as a Treatment Alternative for Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS)

Continuous Positive Airways Pressure therapy (CPAP) is the gold standard treatment of the Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS), however, the scarce adherence to the therapy requires the evaluation of other therapeutic alternatives.

The aim of the present study was to assess the effectiveness of Mandibular Advancement Devices (MAD) in subjects affected by OSAS who had interrupted the treatment with CPAP and to make comparative evaluations.

Eighteen subjects (15 males and 3 females), aged between 27 and 60 years, with a diagnosis of moderate to severe OSAS were included. Inclusion criteria: polysomnographic examination before treatment (T0) and after 1 month from the beginning of the therapy with CPAP(T1), interruption of the treatment due to loss of compliance, Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) questionnaire filled out at T0 and T1. Subjects started the treatment with MAD and polysonnographic examination was prospectively executed after 3 months (T2) and 1 year (T3). One-way analysis of the variance (ANOVA) was used to compare data of polysonnographic examination performed at T0, T1, T2 and T3 as well as the differences of ESS scores recorded at different timing.

Compared to baseline (T0), all functional parameters tested showed statistically significant differences at T1, T2 and T3 (p < 0.001), meanwhile no differences were found between data recorded after therapy with MAD (T2 and T3) and with CPAP (T1). Similar results were also found with the score of ESS among different timelines (p < 0.001).

These findings suggest that MAD could be a valid alternative for the treatment of OSAS in those patients with scarce adherence to the CPAP therapy.