CHANGES IN WORK PERFORMANCES IN OBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP-APNEA PATIENTS AFTER DENTAL APPLIANCE THERAPY

The effects of dental appliances on work performances of obstructive s leep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is not well ll examined. This study evaluat ed the polysomnographic and psychological findings before and after th erapy. Nine patients were diagnosed OSAS by nocturnal polysomnography. The psychological battery was performed from 13:00 to 14:00, which co nsisted of Uchida-Kraepelin psychodiagnostic test (U-K's test) and Bou rdon's cancellation test (Bourdon's test). Approximately 3 months afte r the treatment, the examinations were performed. Apnea and desaturati on index decreased significantly after the therapy. In addition, sleep architecture improved after the therapy compared with that before the therapy. Dysfunction of task performances, such as mean level of work amounts in U-K's test, mean error, mean performance time and mean dev iation in Bourdon's test improved after therapy. We conclude that dent al appliances therapy is effective not only to apnea but also to work performance in OSAS.