Obstructive sleep apnea was discovered in 1965, shortly after the application of EEG to sleeping subjects.
As the EEG was combined with other body metrics, such as blood oxygen saturation measurements to create the polysomnogram, it became possible to positively
diagnose sleep apnea.
However, respect for sleep medicine was a long time coming.
During the 60s and 70s, sleep medicine was considered mumbo jumbo and quackery, but once the biochemistry of sleep began to be revealed, allowing treatment of sleep disorders, sleep medicine began to be recognized, and finally, in 1996, the
American Medical Association recognized sleep medicine as a legitimate specialty.
Not so sleep dentistry, which is still not a specialty recognized by the American Dental Association. Nonetheless, sleep dentists have been working for decades to help people get a good night's sleep through oral appliances that can stop snoring and remedy obstructive sleep apnea.
If you are a snorer or have been diagnosed with sleep apnea, especially if you have been started on CPAP treatment by a sleep doctor but it is not working for you, schedule a sleep dentistry consultation at the Snoring and Sleep Apnea Treatment Center in Gurnee, Illinois, today.