Skip to main content
. 2015 Nov 19;20:395–404. doi: 10.1007/s11325-015-1285-9

Table 2.

Clinical studies reporting nocturnal wearing of dentures in edentulous patients

Author Year Study type Level of evidence Subjects No. Patient characteristics Duration/follow-up Sleep study Results (with dentures vs. without dentures) Conclusion (effects of nocturnal denture wearing)
Age (years) Gender (M/F) BMI (kg/m2) AHI (/h) Mean SaO2 (%) Lowest SaO2 (%)
Bucca et al. [11] 1999 Case series 4 Edentulous OSA patients N = 6 63 ± 4 M: n = 6 31 ± 2 2 × 1 night (consecutive) In-laboratory PSG 13 ± 4 vs. 20 ± 5 92 ± 2 vs. 90 ± 2 85 ± 2 vs. 82 ± 2 (1) Decrease of AHI
(2) Increased mean/lowest SaO2
(3) Increase of retropharyngeal space
Bucca et al. [12] 2006 Clinical trial 2b Edentulous OSA and non-OSA patients N = 48 69 ± 9 M: n = 29
F: n = 19
28 ± 1 2 × 1 night (consecutive) In-laboratory PSG or ambulatory PSG 11 ± 2 vs. 17 ± 4 93 ± 0 vs. 93 ± 1 84 ± 1 vs. 82 ± 1 (1) Decrease of AHI
(2) Increased mean/lowest SaO2
(3) Decreased exhaled eNO
(4) Increase of retropharyngeal space
Almeida et al. [26] 2012 Randomized clinical trial 2b Edentulous OSA patients, age ≥ 60 years N = 23 70 ± 5 M: n = 6
F: n = 17
27 ± 3 2 × 15+ days In-laboratory PSG 26 ± 15 vs. 20 ± 10 NS NS (1) Increase of AHI
(2) No significant difference in mean/lowest SaO2
Arisaka et al. [27] 2009 Clinical trial 2b Edentulous OSA and non-OSA patients \N = 34 73 ± 9 M: n = 16
F: n = 18
23 ± 4 2 × 1 night (consecutive) Ambulatory PSG 13 ± 10 vs. 18 ± 15 NS NS (1) Decrease of AHI in 19/27 patients
(2) Increase of AHI in 8/27 patients
(3) No significant difference in lowest/mean SaO2

Data regarding age, BMI, AHI, and mean and lowest hemoglobin oxygen saturation (SaO2) are presented as mean ± standard deviation

AHI apnea–hypopnea index, eNO exhaled nitric oxide (marker for inflammation), NR not reported, NS not significant, OSA obstructive sleep apnea, PSG polysomnography, SaO 2 hemoglobin oxygen saturation