CPAP vs. Oral Sleep Appliances

I am trying to decide between ordering a CPAP machine and mask and an oral sleep appliances for my Sleep Apnea diagnosis. My dentist recently told me that he prepared custom SUAD oral sleep appliances.

I would appreciate finding out if anyone else compared the two and what they decided to use. I would also like to know about people switching from a CPAP to an oral sleep appliance. Finally, are there other alternative options?

Thanks.

Oral appliances have a much lower success rate than CPAP. They usually only work with mild apnea. They only work if your apnea is caused by your jaw position. If moving your jaw forward doesn't fix your apnea, they do no good. They're often not covered by insurance and may be expensive. They can cause TMJ and other problems. Unless you go and have another sleep test you don't know whether it's working.

CPAP is the "gold standard" in apnea treatment. CPAP tends to give better results. Unless you get screwed by your DME (CPAP seller), the machine checks your breathing every night and you know whether the therapy is working.

On the other hand, CPAP has to be plugged in. You have to carry it around when you travel and find power. You have to deal with the problems of CPAP. The biggest problem is psychological in terms of people not wanting to be hooked up to the machine. The medical mafia gives poor followup support, so you may have to do a lot of the work yourself. Many people give up on CPAP, but I think most people can make it work if they try, especially with the help of boards like this one.

To me, CPAP is the clear choice, but a certain percent of the oral appliance people are happy.

Have you had a sleep test? Why do you think you need CPAP?

A lot of orthodontists don't like MADs because although it pushes the lower jaw forward, it pushes the maxilla back--not good since maxilla is life.

I spent $2000 on an oral appliance. Save your money!

I have a MAD ... it titratable (adjustable) and it work for me ... when my jaw moves back it closes my throat closes .
You can test if it works for you with a cheep boil and bite snore stopper, by heating it and setting it with your lower jaw forward.

from ebay : http://www.ebay.com/itm/WO-US-STOP-SNOR ... 2a3f838707

then if it works you can have a good one made by a qualified sleep dentist

there are also low cost applianced made by dentist ... $100 to $200 made for short term use.

The one that I have is the ...Modified Herbst shown in the following link:

http://www.dentalsleepapnea.com/Oral_Ap ... herapy.htm

When I was diagnosed with sleep apnea 3 months ago the Dr said I could try the oral device as my apnea was mild. I was estatic not to have to use Cpap and eagerly agreed to using the oral device. After being on it for 3 months they did another sleep study on me and found that my sleep apnea had worsened from mild to severe despite wearing the the device faithfully. I was pretty much devastated as I thought for sure the device was helping. I guess I just wanted it to work so bad that I convinced myself that it was. I cried, stomped my feet, got mad at the whole situation then finally decided it was what it was and now I'm on a Cpap, less than one week so far and each day it gets a little better. Hope others were able to use the oral device.

Thanks to the responses. I forgot to mention that my diagnosis is complex sleep apnea, not obstructive sleep apnea.
I would appreciate additional responses regarding treatments for complex sleep apnea (CPAP, oral sleep appliances, or anything else).

Here is my original message.

Thanks.

[quote="mackerman"]I am trying to decide between ordering a CPAP machine and mask and an oral sleep appliances for my Sleep Apnea diagnosis. My dentist recently told me that he prepared custom SUAD oral sleep appliances.

I would appreciate finding out if anyone else compared the two and what they decided to use. I would also like to know about people switching from a CPAP to an oral sleep appliance. Finally, are there other alternative options?

Hi, complex apnea is a mix of central events plus obstructive ones... so you don't not have obstructives, but a different proportion of them. Central apnea does not 'take' a regular C- or auto machine, but a similar type with slightly different configuration (called an ASV or Vpap (others are better informed about those so should tell you more about them). It would be very helpful in terms of advising you if you could post a screenshot on e.g. Imgur.com and then link it to the forum so we could see what your test results actually look like.

While there may be some alternative options for obstructive sleep apnea that have varying degrees of effectiveness...centrals are another matter.
How did you come to get the Complex Sleep Apnea diagnosis?
Did you have centrals present in the diagnostic sleep study without a cpap machine or did the centrals emerge only with the addition of cpap pressure during a titration sleep study (if you had one) where they tried to find a suitable pressure?

Centrals are when you quit breathing and the airway is open...no oral appliance will help.