Author: Michael Kelley

This is a MUST for the dental team members involved in Dental Sleep Medicine screening and treatment. This 2 day weekend course will give the educational requirements to achieve Dental Sleep Coordinator Specialists Certification with the American Sleep and Breathing Academy via Sleep Group Solutions Boot Camp. As an added bonus, by bringing your staff to this boot camp you will be able to register them as ASBA Sleep Coordinator Members, receive $100 off at the Annual Sleep and Wellness Conference April 13-14, 2018 and access to the ASBA online educational module curriculum ($530 VALUE).   Register now    Boot Camp Agenda: Become an integral part of the interdisciplinary dental sleep medicine team. This course is designed for the dental office auxiliary and clinical team members The Sleep Group Solutions Boot Camp, in association with the ASBA, is built around supporting dental team members involved in DSM screening and treatment. The program will provide a two-day, hands-on training dedicated to their particular roles in snoring and sleep apnea screening and treatment, as well as oral appliance therapy. The two-day program will focus on patient care, team coordination, case creation and presentation, marketing, insurance billing and collections.

NEWARK, N.J. –  Democratic lawmakers from New York and New Jersey are introducing legislation Thursday to force federal transportation officials to implement a rule to test train engineers for sleep apnea. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and New Jersey U.S. Sen. Cory Booker announced the legislation a week after the National Transportation Safety Board said that the engineers involved in crashes in Hoboken and Brooklyn were suffering from undiagnosed sleep apnea. To read the full article, click here.

American Sleep and Breathing Academy The 4th Annual Sleep and Wellness Conference is the 2nd Largest Dental Sleep Medicine meeting in the U.S. With over 600 attendees expected for the 2018 meeting, its rapid growth is due to a commitment to growing the practice management side of dental sleep medicine for it’s members and the industry. Practice Management. Elite Industry Speakers. Come to the most valuable weekend in dental sleep medicine. The American Sleep and Breathing Academy has some of the country’s top speakers with a combined experience of over 1,000 treated OSA cases. The ASBA focuses on the clinical approach with an emphasis on practice management in order to help you grow into a successful dental sleep practice. The Sleep and Wellness Conference features the most variety of speakers from politicians, to sleep dentists, to trucking company executives, motivational speakers, sleep physicians and NFL legends who share their experience being treated  with OAT. Register now. More Time With Attendees Means They Are Better Informed. Our Exhibit Hall is quickly becoming known as the most valuable vendor experience of them all. The ASBA sets a reasonable price and keeps the best interest of both the attendees and exhibitors in mind. The Exhibit Hall is directly next to the Main Lecture Hall with plenty of space and high ceilings, making sure it is set in a stress free environment for our 600+ attendees to be educated about the newest technology that will boost their practice. Want more time to engage in conversation? OUR FAMOUS COCKTAIL HOUR WILL TAKE PLACE INSIDE THE EXHIBIT HALL! Take a look at our layout and remember, booth space goes quick so reserve your booth today. Sponsorship opportunities are also available by emailing alan@myasba.com. One Last Thing. What makes the ASBA the fastest growing academy in dental sleep medicine? There are a lot of reasons, but our philosophy that all aspects of the process need equal growth creates for the best all around conference of the year. Whether you’re a seasoned sleep dentist or just starting out, we have you covered. Our speakers cover marketing, billing, clinical and staff education. Our vendors are of the highest quality. We have hundreds of attendees for incredibly valuable networking. We’re affordable. Last but definitely not least, we focus on your success as a whole. Your success is our only standard. Learn more at sleep-conference.com

John Nadeau Vice President, SGS introduces a process for screening, case presentation and clinical records that enables dental practices to increase case acceptance, reduce time and increase overall treatment efficacy with oral appliances by incorporating real-time objective measurements of airway parameters. This lecture will include a hands-on demonstrations that also incorporates analysis of vertical dimension as an important parameter in determining oral appliance starting positions. View Video

LUMUT, MALAYSIA: A total of 110 military veterans in Perak participated in the largest sleep apnoea test to raise public awareness on the danger of the disorder as well as to educate them on the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment. Braebon Malaysia Sdn Bhd President, Jojo Chegne said the test was carried out because one in three Malaysians aged 45 years and above had snoring problems with the possibility of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) syndrome. He said the participants, who were the members of the Perak Malaysian Armed Forces Veterans Association (PVATM), aged between 45 and 76, underwent the test at the Swiss Garden hotel in Segari last night. “Before they went to sleep, all of them were hooked up to the apnoea testing equipment called Medibyte Jr, to record their breathing patterns, snoring, oxygen levels, heart rate, chest movements and sleep position,” he said here today. Mr. Chegne said the test revealed that 34% of the participants had severe sleep apnoea with as many as 45 pauses in breathing per hour while sleeping. “This causes a lack of oxygen in the blood and brain which can lead to many other health problems. “In fact, the lack of oxygen especially in the brain can be fatal if left untreated,” Jojo said. He said those suffering from OSA would experience between 10 and 60 seconds of breathing pauses each time, and up to 400 times each night. People with OSA often wake up suddenly due to shortness of breath, he added. Take a closer look at the Technology behind BRAEBON Click Here

Sleep apnea, left untreated for even a few days, can increase blood sugar and fat levels, stress hormones and blood pressure, according to a new study of sleeping subjects. A report of the study’s findings, published in the August issue of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, adds further support for the consistent use of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), a machine that increases air pressure in the throat to keep the airway open during sleep. “This is one of the first studies to show real-time effects of sleep apnea on metabolism during the night,” says Jonathan Jun, M.D., assistant professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the paper’s senior author. Read the full story here.

Fitbit, the digital health company whose wristbands have become synonymous with the whole activity-tracking movement, is trying to bring its health monitoring game to the next level — by focusing on a sleep disorder that affects millions of Americans. Read the full story by clicking here.

In a continuing quest to achieve regulatory consistency for diagnosing and treating obstructive sleep apnea in transportation workers, several sleep dentists took their concerns to Capitol Hill.   Drs. Elliott Alpher, Neal Seltzer and Michael Baylin met with a legislative aide for Senator Chris Van Hollen. (D – MD). Dr. Alpher and Dr. Baylin are Maryland residents. The three expressed concerns over the recent federal decision to halt work on a rule that would have regulated the diagnosis and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea in truck drivers and railway workers. Two weeks ago, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the Federal Railway Administration (FRA) discontinued the plan to establish a federal regulation. Instead the two agencies said that companies could develop their own standards.   The goal of the meeting with Senator Van Hollen’s legislative aide for health issues was to ask the Senator to seek renewal of the formal regulatory rule-making. In addition, the doctors requested that a dental sleep medical practitioner be appointed to the FMCSA Medical Review Board, which establishes medical standards for transportation workers and sets training policy for certified medical examiners.   During the 45-minute session, the doctors explained that transportation workers endure long hours and irregular sleep patterns making them at higher risk of suffering from obstructive sleep disorders. They added that an estimated 18 million people suffer but are undiagnosed or treated.   “The health and well-being of truck drivers is critical to everyone on the highway,” said Dr. Neal Seltzer of Long Island Smile.   “The lack of sleep and obstructive breathing are epidemics that will affect at least the next few generations,” said Dr. Elliott Alpher.   “This lack affects your entire health and well-being,” said Dr. Michael Baylin.   In a separate action, several senators called for Trump Administration to explain why it cancelled the rule-making. In a letter to the Department of Transportation on Monday, August 21, several senators asked for an explanation and all the documents that were used to cancel the rule-making process. The senators called on the Administration to reverse its decision.   “We strongly believe that DOT should immediately reconsider the decision to help avoid future fatigue-related tragedies.”   The letter details several deadly railway crashes that were linked to undiagnosed sleep disorders. These included a 2013 Metro-North train derailment in New York and a New Jersey Transit crash last year. The letter is signed by Sens. Cory Booker (N.J.), Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), Bob Menendez (N.J.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.).   For several years, The American Sleep and Breathing Academy has advocated for science-based diagnostic and treatment guidelines for the commercial trucking industry. In 2016, ASBA members submitted more than 1,000 pages of expert comments to a proposed federal rulemaking that would have established incomplete, confusing and inconsistent regulations for the diagnosis and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea.   Establishing consistent, science-based guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea will improve the health of the workers and make the roads safer.   Current FMSCA Medical Review Board guidelines base a diagnosis upon three criteria, while the ASBA standard includes 14 scientific and medical points, including intraoral exams and measurements and allows for a home sleep study.   Further, the FMCSA guidelines require the driver to stop working, go to a sleep lab and return to work only conditionally until there is a diagnosis and treatment. This is costly, time-consuming and by the estimates of one trucking association, can cost the driver $5,000 to $7,000 each time. FMCSA guidelines dictate that the continuous airway device, CPAP, is the preferred method of treatment. Patients are required to wear the CPAP for only four hours during their sleep periods. Dental sleep appliances are allowed only after the failure of CPAP therapy to improve the patient’s breathing.   Pilot Sleep Program Needs Dental Sleep Expertise   In addition to the obstructive sleep apnea rule-making, the trio asked that a dental sleep medicine practitioner be allowed to help establish the proper protocol and data analysis methods for a proposed FMCSA pilot program called “Split Berth.”  It will examine whether allowing drivers to divide their current 14-hour work schedule and 10-hour consecutive sleep requirements into periods they manage would be beneficial. Currently the pilot program is under consideration.   While the split berth idea is favored by truck drivers, Drs. Alpher, Baylin and Seltzer expressed concerns that the pilot program is being established without the expertise of dental sleep medicine specialists.   SOURCE: Dr. Elliott Alpher