Dear members and colleagues of the American Sleep and Breathing Academy (ASBA),

As the President of the Academy, it is important to inform our members about significant issues as they emerge in the field of dental sleep medicine.

Part of the mission of the ASBA is to empower our members to reach their fullest potential by providing unbiased education, research, and training. This commitment translates into the high level of service and excellence that our members bring to their patients.

As many of you know, with the proposed changes to oral appliance therapy (OAT) reimbursement and the reduced availability of CPAP machines, OAT companies in the field wish to position themselves as leaders in an effort to either capture market share or simply stay afloat, as these are difficult times.

Therefore, we encourage dental sleep specialists to moderate from any excessive promotion of any one company as "the best in the industry" or making claims that "no other has done more for this industry" as these statements are difficult to substantiate and could be misleading or misunderstood; especially when discussing a company that has unfortunately filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. You can read about it here.

NorthStar Orthodontics and Smile Direct have not been able to stay in the field after similar steps, leaving cases in mid-process to be locked up and thrown away; Hurting both providers and patients.

Other companies, such as Vivos, have received approval for using OAT to treat patients with severe sleep apnea. Additionally, individuals like Dr. Robert Ricketts, Dr. Thomas Meade, David Gergen, Dr. Wayne Halstrom, Dr. Timothy Adams, and Dr. Dave Singh can all claim some level of recognition for their contributions to advancing our field.

We encourage responsible community members to actively use social media to promote their practices, but always in a way that respects others.

As always, we want each doctor to do their due diligence and look at the history, the experience and evidence of any laboratory they select.  There are many options to choose from.

As a physician in this field, I notice my colleagues evaluating whether to strengthen their collaboration with dental sleep specialists to advance OAT, or wait to intervene if those efforts begin to falter.

Rodolfo Ferrate, MD
President, American Sleep and Breathing Academy