The British Society of Dental Sleep Medicine

The BSocDSM was launched at a two-day residential sleep seminar 'An exploration of Dental Sleep Medicine and the role of the GDP' in Oxford on Friday 29th - Saturday 30th April 2005.

The Society is for all interested in the role they can play in enhancing the quality of life for those who suffer from sleep disordered breathing. This is a relatively new field of therapy that has opened to the dental team to help correct a medical problem - sleep-related breathing disorders ranging from benign snoring to severe obstructive sleep apnoea. Dentists are an important link in the chain. They can often identify abnormal conditions in their patients and screen for medical problems.

The BSocDSM intends to help educate practitioner Dentists through clinical meetings that keep leading-edge ideas accessible and establish and maintain appropriate treatment protocol. The BSDSM also intends to reach out to the community at large, working towards the creation of a positive public awareness of sleep disorders and the role of the Dentist in recognition and treatment of sleep breathing disorders.

It is our intention to develop a certification program for member dentists. While not conveying a specialty status to those dentists who have achieved certification, this program intends to assure both patients and physicians that those dentists certified by the BSocDSM have studied the field of sleep medicine, are able to discuss the problems of sleep disordered breathing with their physician colleagues and have demonstrated a knowledge of oral appliance therapy.