Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a chronic, progressive, disabling respiratory disorder with serious systemic repercussions; It is characterized by recurrent events of upper airway obstruction (UA) during sleep. In this way, it directly affects the individual's quality of life, since this occurrence causes daytime hypersomnolence, a feeling of suffocation when waking up, memory failure, sexual impotence, psychological changes such as anxiety and depression and, even, in more severe cases, acute heart attack. myocardial injury (AMI), cerebrovascular accident (CVA), as well as car accidents, which, therefore, constitute a public health problem. The objective of this literature review is to highlight the importance of the dentist's knowledge and conduct regarding the early diagnosis and treatment of OSAS, the request for appropriate complementary exams, their classifications and assertive therapeutic measures according to the individual's peculiarities. As a methodology, several searches were carried out in the SciELO, LILACS, PubMed, MEDLINE and Google Scholar databases from 1999 to 2023, with the following indexing terms: Sleep apnea syndrome, polysomnography, diagnosis, treatment, snoring, sleep. In this sense, it appears that Sleep Dentistry is a new field of activity for dental surgeons as a result of the possibility of conservative, effective and cost-effective treatments favorable to patients through clinically manufactured intraoral appliances (AIO). Therefore, it is expected that, in the medium term, the Federal Council of Dentistry (CFO) will recognize it as a dental specialty.