Have you been diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea? The most common treatment suggested is a CPAP machine. Research has shown that about half of patients who are supposed to use a CPAP cannot tolerate the machine. Sleep doctors consider a patient to be “compliant” with their CPAP if they use it only 4 hours per night! That means there are many hours of sleep when breathing is interrupted.

We do have another option for those patients who are CPAP intolerant or want a simpler treatment- an oral appliance from a dentist who is specially trained in dental sleep medicine.

Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when the soft tissues of the mouth and throat collapse back into the airway during sleep and block the windpipe. When the airway is partially blocked there is loud snoring but when the airway is fully block breathing stops. The brain senses that it is low on oxygen and briefly wakens the sleeper to being breathing again. The sleeper doesn’t remember waking but the entire night of sleep is fragmented and the body doesn’t get the rest it so desperately needs.

CPAP uses pressurized air fed through a mask to keep this airway open. There are now many types of masks available and with trial and error patients may find one that is comfortable. Other patients complain about complicated care of the equipment, rashes and eye infections, sore throats and headaches.

An oral appliance is a small device that looks like a mouthguard and it actually works with the architecture of your body to do keep the airway open during sleep. The oral appliance is adjusted to move the lower jaw forward, this also brings the tongue forward and keeps the tissues out of the airway throughout the night. Snoring is stopped and the airway remains open.

If you would like to find out more information about oral appliance therapy or discover whether or not you are a candidate for oral appliance therapy to treat your obstructive sleep apnea please contact Columbus sleep medicine dentist Dr. Mark Levy at 614-476-6696 today to schedule your consultation.