Long-Term Stability of Growth Modification Treatment in Children with Obstructive Sleep Apnea; A Systematic Review

The aim of this study is a systematic review on the long-term stability of growth modification treatment in children with obstructive sleep apnea (SA).

At first, all the papers (n=87) related to keywords (growth modification, headgear, functional therapy, herbst, twin block, forsus, AHI, orthodontics, sleep apnea, systematic review, meta-analysis) were searched for English databases; PubMed, Scopus, Embase, google scholar and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews covering the period from 2000 through 2021 was studied. As a result to inclusion and exclusion criteria, papers related to growth modification treatment in children with sleep apnea were found and analyzed (n=5). Predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria were:  papers related to growth modification treatment for children with SA, Children 7 to 11 years old with SA grade 2 and above, follow-up 10 months to 11 years old, use of functional appliance and headgear, papers were English, papers were original and all the papers were free full text.

Of the 87 studies on growth modification treatment and sleep apnea, only 5 studies clinically evaluated the long-term stability of growth modification treatment on airway dimensions. Growth modification treatments for sleep apnea are very important and can play very significant role in health improvement. So, paying more attention to benefits of orthodontics therapeutic tools in sleep apnea is necessary. On important points is the orthodontist’s active role play in screening the patients for this disease and advice oral appliance therapy, if needed.

The long-term stability of using orthodontic functional appliances in the treatment of sleep apnea in children demonstrated that the utilization of these tools can increase the width of airways in the oral cavity improving the respiratory condition in children eliminating problems associated with apnea.