Dentists and dental hygienists from around the region recently visited Barbados to attend a conference that highlighted the importance of the dental team to the detection and treatment of Sleep Apnea and other sleep related breathing disorders.

During the two-day conference, Dr. Aditi Desai, a Sleep Medicine Expert, who is currently the President of British Society of Dental Sleep Medicine (BSDSM) and the British Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine (BADSM), shared her vast knowledge with regional dentists and medical doctors on the important role of the members of the dental team in the detection of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), snoring and other Sleep Related Breathing Disorders (SRBD).

Participants discussed some of the harmful results of sleep apnea, which include the effects it can have on High Blood Pressure, Heart Problems and Type II Diabetes.

At a reception to welcome the overseas participants, Coordinator Dr. Alison Mayers shared a report that she had read which stated that OSA can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease by 140%, stroke by 60% and coronary heart disease by 30%. She issued a call to fellow dentists to help improve the incidence of NCDs on the island by encouraging them to screen patients and collaborate with their patients’ doctors to help improve their overall health.

Over the past year, Dr. Desai, a restorative dentist of over 46 years, who serves on the Council of Sleep Section at the Royal Society of Medicine and on the Executive Board of the British Sleep Society and the Association of Respiratory Technology and Physiology (ARTP),  has been able to share her extensive knowledge in this area via online and now face to face training sessions with over 200 dentists from Guyana, St. Lucia, Grenada, Jamaica, Cayman, St. Kitts, St. Vincent, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados.

The Chairs of the Dental and Medical Councils of Barbados, the Chair of the Dental Council of Trinidad and Tobago, the President  of  the Antigua and Barbuda Dental Association and the Vice-President of the Barbados Dental Association and were all present at the function.