December 5th, 2012 Snoring Isn’t Sexy Member, Dr. Steven Miller of Wellington, FL Participates in Effort to Screen Children for Sleep Apnea
Snoring Isn’t Sexy Member, Dr. Steven Miller of Wellington, FL Participates in Effort to Screen Children for Sleep Apnea
New York, NY (PRWEB) September 27, 2012
In the new guidelines, announced in August of 2012, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that children who snore be screened for sleep apnea. In response, Dr. Steven Miller, whose general dental office is in Wellington, FL participates in Snoring Isn’t Sexy’s screening program for children who snore. Recent research has shown that left untreated, sleep apnea in children can lead to behavioral problems, learning difficulties, have an adverse affect on growth and development, and other medical problems.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a condition in which breathing stops multiple times during sleep in response to an obstruction in the airway. In children this obstruction is usually due to enlarged tonsils but also is related to the size of the tongue, size of both the upper and lower jaws and the relation of the jaws to one another. Dentists are in a unique position to evaluate children for OSA because of their knowledge of jaw and tongue size, the relationship of the jaws to one another and their ability to evaluate tooth grinding which is often related to OSA.
If Dr. Miller determines that screening is positive for sleep apnea by history and examination, he will refer the child to the child’s pediatrician or, with the pediatrician’s approval, directly to the appropriate sleep specialist.
“As a dentist who has been treating adults who suffer with sleep apnea,” said Dr. Miller, “it’s a pleasure to be able to screen kids as well. While dentists to not usually directly treat kids with apnea, we can play an important role in screening for the problem and in adjunctive therapy to improve jaw size and interrelationship.”
Steven M. Miller, DDS has been a member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine since 2009. He has had great success with treating adults with oral appliances for snoring and sleep apnea. His practice screens both adult and child patients for signs of obstructive sleep apnea and he encourages evaluation by their physician for those at risk. In adults, in collaboration with the patient’s internist or sleep specialist, an oral appliance may be selected as the preferred treatment for mild to moderate sleep apnea instead of CPAP.
Snoring Isn’t Sexy, LLC was founded in 2008 by Laurence I. Barsh, DMD, a dentist who has been involved with sleep medicine since 1992 and who now devotes full time to educating the public about dentistry’s role and responsibility in the recognition and management of snoring and sleep apnea. Dr. Barsh and the dentists associated with Snoring Isn’t Sexy, LLC feel strongly that management of sleep-breathing disorders is a shared responsibility of both the medical and dental professions.
Snoring Isn’t Sexy, LLC consists of independently owned and operated affiliated offices. Visit http://www.SnoringIsntSexy.com for a directory of all participating dentists or our dedicated Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/findsleepapneadentist.
For more information, please contact Steven Miller, DDS at docsmiller(at)gmail(dot)com or 561.798.8023.
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