Treatment of elderly patients with snoring and obstructive sleep apnea using a mandibular advancement device.

INTRODUCTION: The simplicity of oral appliance therapy in the treatment of adult patients with snoring and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has resulted in a worldwide interest for this treatment modality. Mandibular advancement devices (MADs) that hold the lower jaw forward during sleep are mainly indicated for patients with milder OSA and those with CPAP intolerance. There has been minor attention on age when suggesting treatment alternatives for patients with OSA. Some studies indicate that there is a weak negative relationship between treatment success from MADs and higher age, but no studies have stratified their samples with respect to age. OBJECTIVE: The present aim was to compare the effects and side effects from MADs between an elderly group of patients (>65 years of age) and a younger age group that were extracted from two of our previous studies. RESULTS: The results showed no difference between the elderly and the younger patients in success rate or the degree of bite changes from MAD treatment. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that MADs represent an alternative to CPAP irrespective of the age of the patient.