Night guard for bruxism aggravates SDB?

Is anyone familiar with this topic? I found this citation and am very surprised. I wonder if there is more info out there beyond this, but so far haven't found it.

http://www.ophsource.org/periodicals/op ... N.15382781

The following link might help you research it some more:

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=occ ... c+patients

simple answer is yes I understand - if you have both of these you need a dentist to make the nightguard who also knows about sleep apnea (which most dentists don't, even the TMJ ones don't know enough is the hearsay"

OMG, John! How did I never know about scholar??!! You've saved me countless hours in future searches.

JohnBFisher wrote:The following link might help you research it some more:

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=occ ... c+patients

SleepingUgly wrote:... OMG, John! How did I never know about scholar??!! ...

Ooops! I let out my secret! Here you had wondered how I always seemed to find the right article and though I was smart. The secret is knowing where to look. Shhhhh! Don't tell anyone!

This is very interesting.
I asked this a couple weeks ago but didn't get as good a response.

I was doing great with my MORA (mandibular orthopedic repositioning splint) for TMJ, which I have worn since the end of October and my cpap numbers had been doing great for about a year and a half. I was feeling really good.

I gained weight over the holidays (since Thanksgiving), and am having trouble getting the weight off. But my numbers ever since Thanksgiving have been deteriorating and now they are consistently awful. My leak rate is always up too, even though my mouth is sealed with tape.

I have been blaming the weight gain on my bad numbers, but I have been even heavier before this and had good numbers.
The only thing that's different (besides the weight gain of 6#) is this mouth splint.
I have been wanting to leave my splint out a night or 2, but have my monthly check-up with my TMJ specialist today, so I wanted to do everything right until today. After reading the above article, I'm more interested than ever in not wearing this splint for a few nights. Even though I would be so happy to realize that my bad numbers have been because of my splint.........I'm supposed to wear it at night forever!
I'm printing off this article and taking it in with me to the dentist today and we'll talk about it.
Nighttime is the worst time for TMJ, so I'll be bummed if I have to choose between treating my TMJ and sleeping. But I will be putting sleeping first.
My numbers have been bad for several months, and my body and mind can definitely feel the difference!

P.S.
Just wanted to add that in thinking about this recently, I'm wondering why an oral splint would have this effect. Seems like it would help apnea, as it forces the jaw down and outward (at least my type of splint does), which should help apnea.
But......this is what I'm wondering.............I have always been such a light sleeper. Perhaps my brain views this splint as a foreign entity trying to enter my body while its asleep, and it results in a hyper-vigilant sleep state that keeps me from going into deeper sleep and keeps me somewhat agitated during the night?
Unfortunately, I don't have software to check out.
I'm going to leave the splint out for a day or 2 this week, and I'll let you know what the numbers show in the morning.
This is very interesting! I love a good mystery! (and solving one!).

I'm not familiar with your type of splint. The kind I have is just a night guard that fits over my top teeth. It does not move my jaw at all. This is a very small pilot study, and I haven't yet searched for bigger studies that would show this more conclusively. I believe the thinking is that bruxism, in some cases, is a compensatory mechanism for a collapsing airway and that some types of splints make the it worse. But I think I brux (is that a word?!) plenty even with my night guard. I just do it on the night guard so I'm not grinding against my teeth.

Hi SleepingUgly,
Are you having trouble with your cpap numbers, and that's why you're looking into this?
I just got back from the visit with my TMJ doc, and she said to go ahead and take out the splint for a few nights and see what my numbers are. I'm so excited that this might work........I want to go to bed right now!
She said that awhile back, she used to make splints for people with sleep apnea. She said she ended up giving it up because so many docs were going with the surgery instead. Anyhow......she said in her experience, sometimes these splints made people breath better at night, and sometimes it made it worse. She stressed that everyone seemed to have a different response to mouth appliances.
Mine fits on the bottom teeth and has wire clips that keep it in place. It is very hard plastic that I'm supposed to wear 24/7. But I take it out to eat.
It was molded to my bite and then customized, to take the pressure off one side of my jaw more than the other, since I had a locked jaw.
Fortunately, I never had much pain.......just a locked jaw. I know some people who grind, end up with horrible pains/headaches, etc.
This will be very interesting if my numbers improve without this in my mouth. but then I'll have to figure out how to deal with my TMJ.........since nighttime is the worst time for TMJ.

Country4ever wrote:Hi SleepingUgly, Are you having trouble with your cpap numbers, and that's why you're looking into this?

No, I was looking into dental devices as an alternative to CPAP, and stumbled upon this citation indicating that night guards of some type may make AHI worse.