Title

Orofacial myofunctional therapy and pharmaceutical interventions in obstructive sleep apnea: Mechanisms and translational perspectives

Authors

Siddharth Sonwane¹,*, Shweta Sonwane², Ananya Hazare³ & Gargilaxmi Elkunchwar⁴

Affiliation

¹Department of Orthodontics, Ranjeet Deshmukh Dental College and Research Centre, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India; ²Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Government Dental College and Hospital Nagpur, Maharashtra, India; ³Department of Orthodontics, Ranjeet Deshmukh Dental College and Research Centre, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India; ⁴Department of Orthodontics, Ranjeet Deshmukh Dental College and Research Centre, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India; *Corresponding author

Email

Siddharth Sonwane - E-mail: siddharth5678@gmail.com; Phone: +91 9970088849
Shweta Sonwane - E-mail: shweta.sunrise@gmail.com; Phone: +91 9923928660
Ananya Hazare - E-mail: ananya.hazare@gmail.com; Phone: +91 9890992170
Gargilaxmi Elkunchwar - E-mail: elkunchwargargi@yahoo.com; Phone: +91 9975949568

Article Type

Review

Date

Received September 1, 2026; Revised September 30, 2026; Accepted September 30, 2026, Published September 30, 2026

Abstract

Orofacial myofunctional therapy (OMT) has emerged as a promising non-pharmacological intervention to improve upper airway function in sleep-disordered breathing. Pharmaceutical sleep medicine mainly targets inflammatory, neuromuscular and respiratory pathways linked to disease progression. Both approaches share key biological mechanisms, including intermittent hypoxia, oxidative stress, inflammation, neuromuscular dysfunction and airway remodeling that contribute to obstructive sleep apnea. OMT enhances tongue posture, muscle performance, nasal breathing and neuromuscular plasticity, while drugs modulate inflammatory mediators, oxidative stress and respiratory control. Thus, integrating OMT with targeted pharmacotherapy may improve airway stability and support personalized multidisciplinary management of sleep-disordered breathing.

Keywords

Orofacial myofunctional therapy (OMT), obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), upper airway stability, pharmaceutical sleep medicine, neuromuscular adaptation

Citation

Sonwane et al. Bioinformation 22(9): 5954-5957 (2026)

Edited by

P Kangueane

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.