Screening for obstructive sleep apnea by orthodontists in the United States - A survey study.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), a sleep-related breathing disorder that can affect both children and adults with systemic co-morbidities beyond disrupted sleep yet remains underdiagnosed in a substantial portion of the pediatric and adult orthodontic patient populations. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalance of orthodontists screening patients for OSA, their confidence level in screening, and to identify the various screening methods most commonly used in practice.A survey on screening for OSA was emailed to 6,675 members of the American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) in the United States. Frequency distribution of different responses and their association with various…