Oral appliance user -- should i go to cpap??

These dental sleep medicine people gotta make their money, somehow.

You do understand you are using an OTC appliance that is very much unlike a good apnea appliance fitted by an experienced, skilled dentist?

Does anyone know of a member of the forum (or anyone) who used a dental device and was successfully treated for OSA?
Along the same line--does anyone know someone who lost enough weight to no longer have OSA?
A T

Always tired wrote:Does anyone know of a member of the forum (or anyone) who used a dental device and was successfully treated for OSA?

You can more easily find people using oral devices on this website:

http://www.apneasupport.org/sleep-apnea ... n-f20.html

Along the same line--does anyone know someone who lost enough weight to no longer have OSA?

Keep in mind that cpaptalk tends to be geared toward people using CPAP. So anyone who lost enough weight to no longer have OSA, or who is using a dental device without CPAP, is not likely to be here. If you read the medical literature, weight loss is frequently cited as part of treatment for OSA, so I'm sure some people are cured with weight loss, and others' are improved with weight loss. Then of course there are those for whom weight loss will make no difference to their OSA. The only people who KNOW they fall into that last category are those who are thin and have OSA.

If I'm successfully treated with a MAD, I plan to post about it here. I think options are good.

As I said earlier, don't trust us forum talking heads, go see a doctor. One qualified to deal with sleep disorders, not one who spends most of their day filling cavities. And see what they have to say for your specific situation.

It's about your life and health, so don't cut corners .

I'm very glad I turned to a doctor. Not only did they help with the sleep apnea, but other medical matters the dentists I've talked with are not nearly qualified to address. I never got a dentist fitted oral device, but I have consulted dentists, and the doctor got my vote. So even see both if you want, but you'd do well to have a real medical doctor (MD) skilled and trained in sleep disorders on your consultation list.

DeadlySleep wrote:

DHosehead wrote:

...

You are relying on the popular myth that MADs will not treat any severe cases. It is a myth.
...

With all due respect, I rely on the advice of medical professionals who treat sleep disorders as their field of practice. Your personal views hold no weight against their credentials.

Honestly, I don't find your avatar or responses to be very respectful. I will engage with you no further.

(Forgot to log in before the earlier reply.)

Guest wrote:

DeadlySleep wrote:
...

You are relying on the popular myth that MADs will not treat any severe cases. It is a myth.
...

With all due respect, I rely on the advice of medical professionals who treat sleep disorders as their field of practice. Your personal views hold no weight against their credentials.

Honestly, I don't find your avatar or responses to be very respectful. I will engage with you no further.

DHosehead wrote:
If your sleep apnea is severe, I'm doubting an oral device is the answer. Mild or moderate sleep apnea, maybe. And the oral devices are way easier to use.

With all due respect, I rely on the advice of medical professionals who treat sleep disorders as their field of practice. Your personal views hold no weight against their credentials. That is why I posted links to medical studies conducted by doctors with credentials and did not just offer a personal opinion like you did.

Suddenly Worn Out wrote:Ive been wearing a SnoreRX OTC anti-snore oral device for three hours a day now. And notice no changes to my bite, yet. If that happens, I will be seriously pissed. That being said, I have found the thing is very uncomfortable to wear, makes me salivate like a rabied dog and when I take it out my gums and cheeks hurt. I notice some mild "pull" feeling on my upper teeth. Maybe I will end up looking like Bucky Larsen, from that porn star movie a few years back.

Then again, hopefully I wont end up looking like that.

These dental sleep medicine people gotta make their money, somehow.

Eric

From my own experience, I highly doubt you'd have any changes to your mouth that anyone other than you might actually notice. I had a normal over-bite throughout my life and after using anti-snore mouthpieces for about 8 months I now have a mild under-bite. My bottom teeth are nearly even with my top teeth. For a few months after no longer using mouthpieces, my chewing was not as comfortable as before, no pain, just seemed unusual from what I was used to. In time my mouth adjusted to the bottom teeth being out a little more than before, and so my chewing no longer feels strange. But the bottom teeth are still slightly forward and I no longer have the normal over-bite I used to have.

If someone disses you on the forum, most people don't notice.

If someone disses you on the forum and you fight back, people notice and remember.