Tired Teens

Reported August 2005

CLEVELAND (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- Being a teenager is tough these days, but it's especially tough if you're always tired. Now a simple X-ray taken at your children's orthodontist could hold the key to helping them sleep better.

Sixteen-year-old Andrew Dudash would come home from school each day and go straight to bed. "I actually got a detention in school for sleeping during a class," he says.

Doctors diagnosed him with sleep apnea, a chronic condition that causes him to stop breathing during sleep. Diagnosing the condition is difficult and often means staying at an overnight sleep lab. But orthodontist Mark Hans, DDS, MSD, wants to make that diagnosis easier. He's studying whether the same X-rays teens get before getting braces will help determine if they're at risk for sleep apnea.

"We're trying to give the sleep doctor a better chance of examining the right patients for this condition," says Dr. Hans, of Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine in Cleveland.

Dr. Hans looks at the position of the tongue and hyoid bone. If the bone sits higher, patients are not at risk for sleep apnea. If it falls lower, they are more likely to have the condition.

In a recent study, the X-rays correctly identified 70 percent of teens with sleep apnea. Dr. Hans says, "When you identify chronic illness early and treat it early, you really prevent more long-term problems."

Case School of Medicine pediatric pulmonologist and sleep specialist Carol Rosen, M.D., says the X-rays would help. "This would add another feature that we would look for in our evaluation." So teens like Dudash can get the treatment they need.

"There's definitely a difference in my sleep because I'm not waking up much during the night," Dudash says. And his sleep is not something he's willing to gamble on.

Dr. Hans says there's no disadvantage to performing the X-ray other than a minimal dose of radiation, which is equivalent to a day in the sun. He says most insurance covers the X-rays, which cost about $100. A sleep lab evaluation could cost thousands.

Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

American Sleep Apnea Association
1424 K Street NW, Suite 302
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 293-3650
http://www.sleepapnea.org


Click here to watch the video.

Your children's teeth may reveal their risk for sleeping problems.

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