This is what I use for converting strings to sentence case:

<?php
function sentence_case($string) {
    $sentences = preg_split('/([.?!]+)/', $string, -1, PREG_SPLIT_NO_EMPTY|PREG_SPLIT_DELIM_CAPTURE);
    $new_string = '';
    foreach ($sentences as $key => $sentence) {
        $new_string .= ($key & 1) == 0?
            ucfirst(strtolower(trim($sentence))) :
            $sentence.' ';
    }
    return trim($new_string);
}

print sentence_case('HMM. WOW! WHAT?');

// Outputs: "Hmm. Wow! What?"
?>