They should be a little more selective, IMHO:
http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-r ... -53345.php
M.
Who decides what goes in the 'streaming news'?
3 posts
• Page 1 of 1
Who decides what goes in the 'streaming news'?
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"If you're going through hell, keep going!"
imho
And what is your objectione?
I thouoght it was very informative.
It is a bit biased and misleading, but infomative.
It is clear the site is very much into promoting dental devices.
I thouoght it was very informative.
It is a bit biased and misleading, but infomative.
It is clear the site is very much into promoting dental devices.
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MandoJohnny
- Posts: 305
- Joined: Sun Apr 23, 2006 11:23 am
- Location: St Louis, Missouri
Well, I am sure my sleep doc is biased also, but he has really done right by me and he has been working in sleep medicine a lot of years. He did not actually recommend against a dental device. He even offered to write me a referral for one. But here is what he wanted me to understand first:
Any medical study on apnea can technically claim "efficacy" if it reduces AHIs by 60% in a substantial number of cases. That is just the standard that's been set. But if your AHIs average 40 and a dental device lowers it by 60%, you still have an AHI of 16 and you still basically have untreated apnea. Other than traceotomy (sp?), only CPAP fully treats apnea (consistently below 5 AHIs) in the vast majority of cases, dental devices do not. Dental devices are rarely covered by insurance for the treatment of apnea and the good ones are as expensive as many CPAP machines. Also, they are no compliance panacea like people think they are. A lot of patients find dental devices to be very uncomfortable and have a hard time tolerating them.
After that explanation, I decided not to pursue a dental device. And in light of that explanation, I agree with the OP in thinking the linked story played fast and loose with the facts. It sounds like a bunch of people blatant trying to sell dental devices by misleading patients. I am always suspicious when the same people doing the prescribing are also making money off the hardware. I'm not saying that doesn't happen lots of places in medicine and sometimes we have to put up with it, but my sleep doc doesn't do sleep studies or sell CPAP machines.
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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): CPAP, AHI
Any medical study on apnea can technically claim "efficacy" if it reduces AHIs by 60% in a substantial number of cases. That is just the standard that's been set. But if your AHIs average 40 and a dental device lowers it by 60%, you still have an AHI of 16 and you still basically have untreated apnea. Other than traceotomy (sp?), only CPAP fully treats apnea (consistently below 5 AHIs) in the vast majority of cases, dental devices do not. Dental devices are rarely covered by insurance for the treatment of apnea and the good ones are as expensive as many CPAP machines. Also, they are no compliance panacea like people think they are. A lot of patients find dental devices to be very uncomfortable and have a hard time tolerating them.
After that explanation, I decided not to pursue a dental device. And in light of that explanation, I agree with the OP in thinking the linked story played fast and loose with the facts. It sounds like a bunch of people blatant trying to sell dental devices by misleading patients. I am always suspicious when the same people doing the prescribing are also making money off the hardware. I'm not saying that doesn't happen lots of places in medicine and sometimes we have to put up with it, but my sleep doc doesn't do sleep studies or sell CPAP machines.
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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): CPAP, AHI
3 posts
• Page 1 of 1