Oral Appliance

kered · Post by **kered** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 11:49 am

I know this is a CPAP forum and you guys/girls are as helpful a group as anyone could ask for. I got lots of help here from my questions and past posts. However, it didn't seem to be working great for me and since my doctor recommended it and my insurance was willing to pay, I decided to try an oral appliance. I thought I would just share my experience in case anyone comes here and does a search for it.

At my first appointment, they did some measurements and I'm not totally sure what they were looking for, but one thing that was important was how much movement I had in my lower jaw. Fortunately, I was able to move my lower jaw quite a bit forward which is what the appliance does. They said I was a candidate and the next step was they took impressions of my teeth and sent them away to have the appliance made.

There are different appliances and the one I got is the Suad. I got the appliance and they said to try it and if I couldn't tolerate it a whole night to try and work my way up with it. I didn't find it too uncomfortable and was able to sleep the entire first night with no problems. And I started dreaming too! Even though I was happy, they wanted me to add some adjustment bands to bring my jaw out further. I did that a couple times.

Since this can affect your jaw position, they also give you what is called an am repositioner. It fits on your lower teeth and you just move your jaw back and bite down while you are taking a shower or whatever for 10 min or so. A couple times during the day I have still felt my jaw forward a bit so I just move it back and hold it there a little bit and clench my teeth down. No problems.

After a couple months, I had another sleep study done with the oral appliance. The other two people getting studies that night were also testing their oral appliance so they are getting more popular. The result of mine was my AHI went from 43 to 1. Success!

The cost was about $3100 which included everything: measurement, molds, fitting, and all appointments, including a future 6 month checkup. I'm really happy with it.

Happy Holidays to all and good luck with whatever works to help you with your apnea.

Ed

jskinner · Post by **jskinner** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 3:35 pm

I too have had good success with an Mandibular Advancement Device. Given the compilations I have had from using CPAP I wish I had tried the oral device first. I think they are often under rated and can work quite well. My AHI went from 55 to 6. Mine is the Klearway version. I find it much more comfortable than CPAP even though it doesn't control things quite as well. (I suspect that apneas that do happen last longer since there is nothing actively trying to correct them. I wish I had a way to measure time in apnea when using it. Certinaly my blood oxygen levels have improved)

rozenbob · Post by **rozenbob** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 7:57 pm

What type pf physician or Dentist did you go to?

jskinner · Post by **jskinner** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 8:33 pm

rozenbob wrote:What type pf physician or Dentist did you go to?

He was a so called 'sleep dentist' http://sleepdentist.ca
Basically just a dentist that specializes in sleep apnea (he had apnea himself and got interested in treatment. Turns out he had a tumor in his neck which was fixable but after experience he continued his interest in apnea)

His name is Dr. Peter Edmison. He is one of the nicest, most caring doctors I met during my whole ordeal.

rozenbob · Post by **rozenbob** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 6:45 am

Thanks..
Are you still continuing CPAP.
If so, do you wear the appliance wihile on CPAP

Chris61 · Post by **Chris61** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 7:22 am

Iam also looking into the dental device. I went tot eh dentist who does nothing but sleepapena work and learned a lot from here. She has a practice in Indy and Boston. SHe did all of here traiing in Boston. She feels that I would be a could for it but that I also have some of the other types of apenas that need to be address first. I was surpised to see that all of the devices were modified orthodontic devices. Just change around for sleep apena.

Chris

kered · Post by **kered** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 1:39 am

The dentist I go to does all dental work and also specializes in oral appliances for sleep apnea. They are in a western suburb of Chicago -Naperville, if anyone is near there and interested. Since I'm in a HMO, I was referred to them directly by my sleep doctor and I've been very happy with them.

Someone else asked me about how to find a dentist and I did a quick google and found this link that says you can find a dentist in your area (if there is one) that deals with this. It has different countries and for the US it lets you just select your state. I put in Illinois and it did find the dentist I go to, along with 36 others. Obviously, they probably don't have all of them so keep looking if they don't list one near you, but it might be a good place to try. Here's the website:

http://www.quietsleep.com/

Offerocker · Post by **Offerocker** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 1:57 am

Here's another:http://www.aadsm.org/FindaDentist.aspx

blarg · Post by **blarg** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 4:26 am

It's great to hear that you're having success with it! I get frustrated when people assume that what worked for them is the only thing that works ever period. It's a very good thing that you had a follow up sleep study as well to make sure that it really was working for you.

Bearded_One · Post by **Bearded_One** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 6:39 am

In northern Virginia, Dr. W. Joseph Pace, Jr. DDS is an excellent dentist who is familiar with treating sleep apnea. His number is 703.938.6800

tangents · Post by **tangents** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 9:22 am

It's nice to hear that you're back on the road to good health, Kered! I admire your willingness to try the new oral device, and am excited that it is working so well for you!

I'm also happy for you, Jim. I agree with Blarg, we need to stay open to all the treatment possibilities for our airways. (Pun intended )

Does the oral appliance last a long time, or does it need periodic replacement? How is it cleaned? What's it made of?

Thanks for the post, I hope your success continues!

Take Care,
Cathy

oceanpearl · Post by **oceanpearl** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 9:49 am

Happy to hear that it works for some. After laying out the bucks myself, many office visits and adjustments I did a follow up sleep study and oxy was dropping as low as 70%. However it did stop my snoring.

socknitster · Post by **socknitster** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 2:40 pm

Kered,

What an awesome outcome! So glad for you. I think oral appliances can help a lot of folks if they can't tolerate cpap.

I tried the TAP appliance but I found it very uncomfortable. My mouth is really, really small and it feels huge in there. It is also really hard for me to remove and I don't have much range of motion in my lower jaw so that made that more difficult. It actually made me feel claustrophobic.

That said, I don't think I really gave it the full chance it deserved because I found out I am pregnant just days after getting the device and suddenly my focus was shifted elsewhere. I just didn't feel like messing with it anymore. Easier to put on the cpap for now. I may revisit it in the future.

Jen

Oral Appliance

Oral Appliance

Where do you go?

Re: Where do you go?

Thank You

Oral Appliance Dentists

Mask

Additional Comments: SleepyHead & Dream Mapper>>>PR S1 model 960