Open mind for different solutions?

I guess we don't really care if we have to pay to get what we want. I'm still waiting to find out why mattman was about to hand out an acerbic reply....

I was interested to see the talk about my site. A patient of mine emailed me this thread. I have nothing agaist cpap, apap or bipap. I have fitted a couple of thousand patients with oral appliances that could not tolerate cpap

If it works more power to you but more than 50% of patints do not toleratecpap and they have a right to a more comfortable solution for themselves.

I started treating apnea because I had a 5 year old son with an apnea index of 60. The initial impression of the sleep doc was overconcernded parent

I am dedicated to making the lives of my patients better, and yes I make a lot of money doing that. I make more money doing cosmetic dentistry but I prefer giving people their lives back.

If you love cpap ...... use it if you don"t there are alternatives available.


Dr Ira L Shapira

If you hate CPAP call me or go to dentalsleepmed.org and find a diplomat who can give you an alternative.


The academy of sleep medicine says oral appliances are equal to cpap for mild to moderate apnea.

This looks like a SPAM post to me, has absolultely nothing to do about CPAP and is promoting a commerical website.

Wikipedia defines it as:

Spam may refer to:

* Spam (food), canned meat sold by Hormel.
* Spam (electronic), unsolicited or undesired bulk electronic messages.
o E-mail spam, unsolicited emails with advertisements.
o Forum spam, posting advertisements or useless posts on a forum.
o Spamdexing, manipulating a search engine to create the illusion of popularity for webpages.
o Messaging spam ("SPIM"), use of instant messenger services for advertisement or even extortion.
* Spam (Monty Python), a comedy sketch involving the meat. The technological term takes its name from this sketch.
* Spam (computer game), to repeatedly use one weapon or tactic. This term is based on the technological meaning of undesired bulk electronic message.
* Flyposting ("Street spam"), illegal blanket advertising in public places.
* Spam (dance), a style of dance.

ah, we can always count on snoredog to keep us on the straight and narrow.

Mind like a steel trap....its good at snapping shut.

I was surprised to see all the oral appliance options listed. I haven't heard of some of these: TAP, TAP II, TAP TL, Oasys, Modified Herbst, Telescopic Herbst, Somnomed Appliance, Tongue Retaining Devices, Silent Nite, Silent Knight, Rest Assured, Therabite.

[/quote]

I found the long, detailed listing of oral devices interesting also and was happy to have the link.

Had not heard of the various tongue repositioning devices before. Some of those looked like they might be tolerable.

In the last 6 months or so, after 1.5 years on CPAP, my OSA seems to have improved quite a bit. I don't have any hard data on this yet, just the experience of finding out that I can now sleep sans CPAP without being wakened by OSA and that I don't seem to feel any worse for doing so.

One of my guesses about why that might be -- and I know there are people here who feel this is ludicrous -- is that my tongue became trained to stay in a high, forward position (to keep my mouth sealed) during those many months of using a nasal interface.

The simple tongue repositioning devices would probably accomplish much the same thing, but perhaps more reliably and to a greater degree. They don't look like they'd be too expensive to try, either.

CPAP certainly has its downside (including producing an unnatural-to-sleep inhalation/exhalation ratio). For people with moderate-to-severe OSA, it might be the only solution, and they have to accept the trade-offs. But for others, that might not be so.

Grace

50% compliance rate (IF people even get as far as TRYING) CPAP is nothing to brag about. PAGES AND PAGES of topic LISTINGS of PROBLEMS with CPAP, including shifting teeth around and jaw soreness and a whole bunch of other things is nothing to be impressed by.

I know several people who almost certainly have OSA but will not even get sleep tested because they have made up their minds that they WILL NOT and CANNOT tolerate CPAP.

Snork, what sort of dental appliance are you using that you find so helpful?

gracie97 wrote:

50% compliance rate (IF people even get as far as TRYING) CPAP is nothing to brag about. PAGES AND PAGES of topic LISTINGS of PROBLEMS with CPAP, including shifting teeth around and jaw soreness and a whole bunch of other things is nothing to be impressed by.

I know several people who almost certainly have OSA but will not even get sleep tested because they have made up their minds that they WILL NOT and CANNOT tolerate CPAP.

Snork, what sort of dental appliance are you using that you find so helpful?