Treatment Options

Oral Appliance

Our practice specializes in fitting patients with a custom fabricated oral appliance to manage sleep apnea. The appliance works by holding your mandible (lower jaw) in a precise open and forward position and by doing so all the soft tissues in your throat and neck are no longer able to collapse and cause the nighttime choking and suffocating episodes. The appliance we make will be custom made for your teeth and will fit much like a sports mouth guard. Oral appliances are a very comfortable and easy to use solution for managing sleep apnea and snoring and they are also an excellent alternative to CPAP therapy for patients who find it difficult to tolerate. In 2015 the American Academy of Sleep Medicine issued updated practice parameters recommending the use of custom fabricated oral appliances made by specially trained dentists for patients with snoring and sleep apnea who prefer the mouthpiece over CPAP or who have tried CPAP and are unable to continue daily use.

Am I a Candidate for an Oral Appliance?

Most people are great candidates for an oral appliance. The only way to tell for sure would be to come in for a complimentary consultation at our office. When you come in we will test your airway using our Eccovision Acoustic Diagnostic Imaging system and we may also send you home with a portable sleep apnea monitor. Once everything is reviewed the doctor will discuss treatment options with you.

Not All Oral Appliances are the Same

At our practice we work with the Respire line of oral appliances. These devices are manufactured to strict standards and are FDA cleared specifically to manage Sleep Apnea. Additionally, we use state-of-the-art acoustic imaging technology to ensure your jaw is held in precisely the correct position with the appliance. “at home appliance kits” and other bulky non-custom devices may claim to help with snoring but are not nearly as comfortable or successful as the appliances we use.