Why would dentist be against CPAP?

A dentist I met was totally against CPAP and called it a life-style choice. This puzzles me, any suggestions?

He's right - it IS a lifestyle choice - and we choose to breathe during sleep so we wake up in the mornings - he's an IDIOT and an ignoramus! I hope you don't go to this dentist for yourself.....

Cheers,
xena

Probably because he is a proponent of dental devices

He want's to sell you a mouth piece so he can make his boat payment this month. I know it is a snarky comment, but dentist are moving beyond their scope of care by getting into the sleep business.

A good dentist who is educated in the area of sleep apnea will not be opposed to CPAP. At the same time, I feel that a good dentist is more realistic as to the failure rates of CPAP. They see patients who complain about CPAP and admit to not wearing their hose nightly. They understand that compliance rates with CPAP probably less than 50%. For this reason, a good dentist is able to see a oral appliance as a viable alternative. And in many cases a properly fitted device very well may be an alternative. And I don't think that OSA is beyond the scope of a dentist if they are willing to really understand it. But you have to keep in mind that some dentists may go to some weekend one-day training course on apnea and then feel that they understand it. You want to find a dentist that really knows their stuff. We have a dentist here in okc that is amazing. He understands all the cpap options (nasal, ffm, etc), oral devices, surgery, etc and helps each patient make the best decision based on their individual needs.
But if you have a dentist that is completely closed off to CPAP as the gold standard, they are obviously either uneducated or very biased towards what benefits their business. Find someone else.

rick, pharm.d.
okc, ok

rickymarkokc wrote: But if you have a dentist that is completely closed off to CPAP as the gold standard, they are obviously either uneducated or very biased towards what benefits their business. Find someone else.

Yes.

i'm willing to bet that your dentist has sleep apnea himself, couldn't get used to the mask, went totally non-compliant and is now using his medical license/dental practice as a bully pulpit to preach against cpap. i would very seriously consider writing a letter to your state licensing board complaining about this unethical speech.

uhhhmmm without offense, because he's an uneducated moron.

Its easy for me to remember why most of us went some years or months before getting diagnosed correctly.

There are a plethora of ignorances and agendas out there. We have an inherent trust in our providers but it is
misguided.

Im convinced very few of them keep up with anything that isnt a potential profit center or drug haven.

He's a tooth-picker, not a sleep doc. He's speaking ex cathedra and probably doesn't even know he's doing so.

The problem with the world is that the stupid are cocksure, and the intelligent are full of doubt. -- Bertrand Russell

I told my son once that it's okay to not know something, but never make the mistake of not knowing that you don't know something.

My dentist hates cpap for himself, but realizes it is a godsend for me.
Nice guy--I still would like to see him visiting the forum, resuming therapy.
Still trying.

Many Dentists hate XPAP, because they don't profit from it. What the do profit from is treatments that are painful, don't work well or not at all in many cases. The doctor you go to sees problems that they can work on (Make Money), that's why they chose to train for them.

A farmer raises Apples because he like them, it he prefurred Cherries ha would have planted them instead, the type of doctor you see limits the results you will get from their treatment. Jim

I love my dentist because he has told me about dental options to CPAP, but he's been very clear with me that they won"t work well for someone with such narrow airways and severe OSA. I appreciate his honesty, as those appliances are very expensive and NOT covered by insurance. Nevertheless, he has left the offer open to make one for me, if I felt that I didn't want to continue with CPAP.

Mamakay, Did you ask why he thought that or did he just make the statement and you left it at that?

Having worked in a dental billing and insurance office, I never want to see another "snore device" insurance claim. They were nightmares. No joke - it would take 6 months to get them paid. In the meantime, the dentist wants his money because the patient has their device and the patient doesn't want to pay out of pocket and wait until insurance cuts them the check. We would get these devices pre-authorized and still they'd get temporarily denied. Ack!!!

Unfortunately, I never did find out if any of our patients were happy with the devices.

wow slarty, love the russell quotation.

You nailed the whole ego trip that being a "doctor" entails. They often are literally convinced that they know everything knowable when a real scientist is simply someone who admits they know very little and have to struggle to find kernels of truth through long and hard hours.