Can Sleep Apnea Dental Appliance Cure Sleep Apnea

Posted on May 10, 2008
Filed Under Health |

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by Suzy Hughes

Are you suffering from sleep apnea? Do you know that sleep apnea dental appliance can mitigate or eliminate the effects of sleep apnea? In this article we are going to see a brief overview of some regularly used appliances.

How Sleep Apnea Dental Appliance Help Sleep Apnea Symptoms

What causes sleep apnea? There are a few reasons that may give rise to sleep apnea: 1. the muscles in the throat relaxes too much and significantly narrows the airway. 2. The air passage and the normal flow of breathing may be disturbed when the tongue collapses, or folds back, thereby shutting off the breathing. This is considered to be a severe condition which may affect important organs like the brain and heart. What should be done? Oral appliances have been used to provide positive results in sleep apnea patients due to their effectiveness in treating spleep apnea by controlling the movement of the tongue or by repositioning the lower jaw to allow the airways to stay open. Sometimes, what a patient need is a sleep apnea dental appliance to help their sleep apnea symptoms, but most cases, they are used together with a Continuous Positive Air Pressure (CPAP) machine. To decide if a sleep apnea dental appliance is suitable for you, both your medical doctor and your dentist should jointly study your condition. However, it’s paramount that you opt for a dentist that has experience in fitting these oral appliances. Not every dentist knows how, and bear in mind that a poorly fitted appliance may cause other problems.

Different Types Of Oral Appliances

With over forty different types of sleep apnea dental appliance available to help sleep apnea symptoms, you may feel overwhelmed at first. But your dentist will tell you that the principles used in these devices fall into two general categories, which should make your selection much easier. Basically, oral appliances are classified by how they work or by their specific design.

The two most widely used Sleep Apnea Dental Appliance are tongue retaining appliances and mandibular repositioning appliances. The names are descriptive enough to give you the basic idea of how they work. By using a tongue retaining appliance, a retainer holds the tongue in a forward position, which stops the back of the tongue from collapsing during sleep. The second type of device places the lower jaw in a protruded position to keep the airway open. Both of these oral appliances have been shown to be a success in treating sleep apnea patients.

How To Identify the Right Dentist

This step in getting a sleep apnea dental appliance cannot be stressed enough. The dentist you select must have specific knowledge in this area. Your nasal passages and airways will be completely examined with a diagnostic tool that uses sound waves. This will give the dentist a complete picture and will enable the sleep apnea dental appliance to be correctly fitted.

About the Author:
Do you want to know what sleep apnea is? Make sure you check Suzy Hughes’ excellent free report on sleep-apnea-cure
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Comments

3 Responses to “Can Sleep Apnea Dental Appliance Cure Sleep Apnea”

  1. Larry Barsh, DMD on May 11th, 2008 10:32 am

    Suzy,

    Thanks for the blog post. Oral appliance therapy performed by a qualified dentist can be an alternative to CPAP for those people who find the mask too confining. In many instances of mild to moderate sleep apnea, a dental device can serve as primary treatment for both snoring and sleep apnea.

    But like CPAP, a dental appliance is not a cure. It only works while it is worn. If the device is not in the mouth while sleeping, it does not good.

    As far as finding a qualified dentist, I would refer your readers to http://www.quietsleep.com/choosedentist.cfm for more information.

    Both of our web sites http://www.quietsleep.com and http://www.snoringisntsexy.com have directories of dentists who provide this therapy.

    Thanks
    Dr. Barsh

  2. Steve Gardner on May 12th, 2008 8:52 pm

    Interesting article … but it must be noted that dental appliances have a degree of effectiveness only for mild to moderate sleep apnea. Those patients with severe obstructive sleep apnea require CPAP therapy.

  3. Webmaster on May 20th, 2008 8:39 am

    Larry and Steve.

    Thanks for your input. It is always good to hear from professionals on here.

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