Together with

We’ve changed our format slightly thanks to our communities suggestions!💙

We are covering some unique modalities/treatments for OSA today:

• Breath training and OSA

• Smelling a cure for OSA?

• Shocking you out of OSA

• 7-figure practices follow these 10 commandments

• Tennis and… mouth tape?

5-minute read today!

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Clinical Corner

🥼Use the clinical corner as your secret weapon to impress your colleagues and patients!

1/ Breath Training and Sleep Apnea: A Closer Look

What Happened & Why It Matters:
Breath training is a non-invasive and cost-effective method that may help alleviate symptoms of sleep apnea. Despite its potential, many in the medical field have hesitated to embrace it due to a perceived lack of robust clinical data and scientific theory. This study drew from multiple disciplines, from neuro-physiology to anthropology, to form a compelling hypothesis about the benefits of neuroplastic breath training for sleep disturbances. Importantly, the severity of OSA doesn't always align with anatomical impairments, challenging the "one-size-fits-all" treatment approach.

Practical Takeaways for Dental Professionals:

• Breath Training's Value: Breath training could be an effective supplementary therapy, especially for patients with elevated ventilatory loop gain.

• Rethinking OSA Causes: Anatomical impairments don't necessarily lead to OSA symptoms. Factors like neurophysiological dysfunction, such as weak activation of upper-airway muscles and high respiratory loop-gain, play significant roles.

• Benefits of Breath Retraining (BR): BR is minimally invasive and cost-effective. It might also decrease the need for CPAP and NMES devices if used in conjunction.

• Drawbacks: Using BR alone might not be sufficient for severe cases, and some patients might experience symptom regression, necessitating repeat training.

• Next Steps: More research is needed to evaluate BR's effectiveness on mild OSA and chronic snoring, its combined benefits with NMES or MAS therapies, and to pinpoint which patients would benefit most from BR.

2/ 🌙 Nighttime Scents & Brain Boosts: The Update 

New Findings & Why They Matter to Dental Pros:
The cognitive decline in aging is a real concern. But here's a fresh angle: nighttime olfactory enrichment. A recent study took 43 seniors (ages 60–85) for a sniff test. One group was exposed to seven different scents throughout a week, while the other group, well, not so much. The results? The scent-exposed group showed a stellar 226% improvement on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test after six months. Plus, there were tangible gains in a brain region called the left uncinate fasciculus.

Key Takeaways for Sleep Apnea Specialists:

• The Power of Scent: Olfactory enrichment isn't just a fancy term. It's a promising way to potentially sharpen the aging brain.

• 🧠 Brain Boost: Nightly scent exposure led to discernible neural enhancements. This isn't just feel-good news—it's backed by hard data. 💡 

• Simple and Effective: This offers an uncomplicated, home-based approach to potentially improve brain health.

3/ Sleep Apnea Special: Transoral Neurostimulation in the Limelight! 🌙

What Happened and Why It Matters:

Researchers have been digging into potential alternatives for treating obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and snoring, given the mixed response to the common positive airway pressure (PAP) treatment. Enter transoral neuromuscular stimulation. This treatment was hypothesized to enhance upper airway muscle function, particularly the genioglossus muscle, thereby preventing airway collapse. The recent study focused on patients with simple snoring and mild OSA. After 4-6 weeks of twice-daily transoral neuromuscular stimulation, researchers found... well, not exactly what they hypothesized. There was no significant change in the genioglossus muscle activity or upper airway collapse. 😲 However, there's a silver lining: benefits were observed in tongue endurance and sleep quality.

Practical Takeaways:

1. Tongue Endurance Boost: Transoral neurostimulation showed a notable increase in tongue endurance, measuring time spent at more than 50% max strength (from 21.7 ± 1.6 to 37.0 ± 3.0 seconds; p = 0.03). 💪

2. Sleep Quality on the Rise: There was a significant jump in sleep efficiency (from 75% to 84%). Better yet, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) showed improvement, suggesting better overall sleep quality for participants. 🛌✨

3. Not All Good News: It's important to note that this treatment didn't produce any notable changes in genioglossal activity or upper airway collapse. Similarly, no significant difference in snoring time was observed. 📉

4. Take It with a Grain of Salt: The sample size for this study consisted of 20 patients (16 males) with a mean age of 40 and mild OSA symptoms. So, while the results are intriguing, it's essential to consider this as a potential avenue for specific patients, not a one-size-fits-all solution.

Business of Sleep

📈Better businesses = more lives saved!

There are many things that make an office a well-oiled machine. Here are 10 of our favorites. #4 is our personal favorite! We have provided links to help you along if you’re not checking these off.

Is your office doing all of these?

🌐 1. Digital First Impressions Count Your website and social media aren't just business cards—they're your first hello. Regular updates? Critical. Dealing with comments? Absolutely. Consider a digital expert to keep your online reputation gleaming.

• Sleep Apnea Leads

• Dental Sleep Profits

• Awaken2Sleep

• Proimpressions

✍️ 2. Feedback is Your BFF Ask and ye shall receive! Seek out feedback from those loyal sleep apnea patients. And if someone drops a 1-star bomb? Engage, empathize, and evolve.

⏰ 3. Be the Early Bird & Night Owl Why limit your practice to the 9-5 grind? Consider earlier starts or late evening slots. You might just woo the 9-5 working crowd!

📞 4. Answer. That. Phone. That ringing? It's opportunity calling. No voicemails during business hours. Make every caller feel like they're the only patient you have.

🔬 5. Lab Partnerships = Patient Retention Choose a dental lab that shares your commitment to excellence. A comfortable denture or seamless bridge can turn a one-time visitor into a lifelong patient.

• Apex Dental Sleep Lab

• True Function Lab

��️ 6. Streamline Scheduling Implement real-time booking solutions like NexHealth, making it easier and faster for patients to secure appointments.

🔔 7. Keep Patients Engaged Send friendly reminders, catchy follow-ups, and informative post-care notes to ensure they're in the loop.

💳 8. Simplify Payments Offer a variety of digital payment methods and consider flexible payment plans.

🎉 9. Celebrate Successes Acknowledge and celebrate successful treatments with patients, enhancing their loyalty and likelihood to refer others.

📊 10. Use Data Intelligently Utilize analytic tools to gain insights and improve patient retention strategies.

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Something Sweet

🍭Stuff so sweet you might get a cavity..

We all know mouth taping during sleep has incredible effects.

but…

Have you seen it used in athletics?

Miscellaneous

😅P.S. … I forgot something

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