orthodontic extractions

CBCT scan of a head showing the compromised airway

What Really Causes Obstructive Sleep Apnea?

Last Updated: 10 December 2022.

When I asked the sleep specialist who diagnosed me with severe obstructive sleep apnea what the cause of my condition was, he said that the muscles in my airway collapse during sleep. The Mayo Clinic, WebMD and Healthline all agree, but in my mind this doesn’t really identify the root cause. So I asked why my airway was too small to tolerate the collapse of the muscles in it, and he replied with: genetics.

I thought that sounded a bit odd given that neither of my parents suffered from obstructive sleep apnea, and as far as I was aware we had no family history of it. One of my siblings has since been diagnosed with it, at least one cousin has it, and I’m pretty sure my mother had it before she died but I wasn’t successful in getting her tested. Nevertheless, at the time I was determined to take my root cause analysis further because I thought that knowing the underlying cause would better inform me as to what the best treatment for the condition might be.

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By Graham Stoney, ago
Scared kid in dentist's chair having teeth extracted

Did You Have Teeth Extracted When You Had Braces?

Several dentists, a world-renowned orthodontist and a sleep scientist have all told me that the tooth extractions and retractive orthodontic work I had done at age 13 is the likely cause of my underdeveloped jaws and resulting obstructive sleep apnea. It has left inadequate space in my mouth for my tongue which has nowhere to go during sleep but backwards, blocking my airway. I now believe this is what has devastated my health, caused my chronic fatigue and profoundly impacted my life over the last 12 years, and perhaps even longer.

However, the connection between orthodontic extractions and obstructive sleep apnea is apparently controversial amongst orthodontists. I had no idea that I had sleep apnea until it was diagnosed a couple of years ago after a polysomnograph that my sleep specialist almost didn’t recommend given my lack of recognised risk factors. It seems that sleep specialists are also unaware that orthodontic extractions are a risk factor for obstructive sleep apnea.

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By Graham Stoney, ago