Oral Appliance Therapy
An oral appliance is a device that fits in your mouth over your teeth while you sleep. It may resemble a sports mouth guard or an orthodontic retainer.
The device prevents the airway from collapsing by holding the tongue in position or by sliding your jaw forward so that you can breathe when you are asleep. Some patients prefer sleeping with an oral appliance to a CPAP machine. A dentist trained in dental sleep medicine can fit you with an oral appliance after you are diagnosed with sleep apnea. Oral appliance therapy is recommended for patients with mild to moderate apnea who cannot tolerate CPAP. Read more about oral appliance therapy...
Oral Appliance Therapy is a Great Solution for Patients Suffering from the Effects of Snoring and Sleep Apnea.
The EMA® (Elastic Mandibular Advancement)
The EMA is a custom-made removable intraoral appliance created for noninvasive treatment of snoring and OSA. The appliance is designed to both advance the lower jaw (mandible) and open the bite to allow for less restricted airflow during sleep. The EMA has many options for mandibular patient advancement with five strap lengths and four different elastic tension options. The appliance does not interfere with breathing through the mouth, even in cases of congested nasal passages. Non restricted side-to-side (lateral) or front-to-back (protrusive) movements of the jaw are possible while wearing the appliance due to varying elastic bands.
The Dorsal sleep appliance
Originally designed as a nighttime TMD splint, the Dorsal appliance has evolved into one of the most popular choices for snoring and obstructive sleep apnea. The two piece construction allows for patient comfort and lateral jaw movement. The Dorsal fins on the mandibular appliance interface with inclines built into the buccal of the upper appliance to dictate a specific mandibular position. The appliance is traditionally fabricated with adjustable screws in the maxillary appliance to allow for further mandibular advancement. This appliance can be fabricated in a variety of materials including acrylic, dual laminate, or thermal splint material.
The Herbst sleep appliance
This is a hard plastic appliance which has the adjustment hardware set on the cheek side of the molar teeth. It prevents side-to-side motion, but since the bottom jaw is held closed with small orthodontic rubber bands, opening the jaws is fairly easy. The modified Herbst is smaller than most appliances and has a long lifespan. It allows jaw movement in all directions but backwards. The patient can take medications, use an asthma inhaler or talk with this appliance in place. This appliance can be fabricated out of material that has no methylmethacrylate and is thus safe for patients who are allergic to this material. The modified Herbst is one of the ‘yardsticks’ used by other appliances seeking FDA acceptance. Patients who severely grind their teeth at night can crack this appliance.
Home sleep testing
WatchPAT is the FDA-cleared portable sleep monitoring device that is convenient, proven, and reliable.
Features of WatchPAT:
- Easy to use: Wrist-worn device that doesn’t interfere with patient’s sleep position
- No sensors or electrodes on the head or chest and no nasal cannula
- Customized three-page report automatically generated from the zzzPAT software
- Only home FDA-cleared device to measure real sleep time (sleep vs. non sleep)
- 24/7 customer support for patients