Sleep Apnea | Dupree Family Dental

What is Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)

Sleep apnea is essentially your body choking on itself and causing repeated episodes of partial or complete suffocation sometimes lasting a minute or more. These choking and suffocating episodes repeat constantly throughout the night causing a myriad of health complications including increased risk of stroke, heart attack and even death. The cause of this collapse in the airway is usually due to the soft tissues in the mouth , tongue or throat closing down and blocking airflow during sleep. The first sign of this is usually snoring which happens when you are attempting to breathe through a narrow airway. If left untreated snoring often escalates to full OSA where the narrow airway is now completely blocked. Nearly 1 in 4 adults over 30 are unknowingly suffering from at least mild sleep apnea.

Are You at Risk?

Do you snore loudly (louder than a person talking or loud enough to be heard through closed doors)?
Do you often feel tired, fatigued or sleepy during the day?
Has your spouse or bed partner ever observed you stop or pause breathing in your sleep?
Do you have or are you being treated for high blood pressure?
Are you overweight or obese?
Are you over 50 years old?
Is your neck circumference greater than 16 inches?
Are you male?

If you answered yes to two or more of the above questions then you should have your sleep health evaluated. Please take a moment and fill out our sleep health evaluation online; test results are available to you immediately.

Take the Test Here

Treatment Options

Oral Appliances

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.

Oral Appliance Therapy is a good option for…

People with Primary Snoring
People with mild to moderate apnea or people with severe apnea who are unable to tolerate or refuse to try CPAP
People with healthy, disease-free teeth
People who want to travel without having to bring a CPAP machine

Advantages of Oral Appliance Therapy:

Appliances are easy-to-wear and comforatble to use
Appliances are small, noiseless, and barely noticable
Appliances are convenient to travel with
Appliances don’t bother bed partners
Appliances reduve sel-consciousness that many report feeling with CPAP use
Appliances are not permanent; use can be discontinued anytime
Appliances are typically covered by medical insurance and medicare

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.

CPAP

CPAP is the traditional gold standard for the management of sleep apnea. CPAP stands for Continuous Positive Air Pressure and it works by pumping room air through a hose into a nasal mask that is strapped to the patients head. Constant pressure in the airway pushes the collapsible tissues out of the way and maintains and open/stable airway.
While highly effective at managing sleep apnea CPAP has proven to be difficult to tolerate for many patients and a large majority of CPAP users are “non-compliant” within 6 months. If you are having a hard time wearing your CPAP every night please contact us, there are other options and it is imperative that you do something to manage your OSA.

Surgery

There are a few surgical options designed to reduce or remove excess tissue in the airway. Our doctor will review and discuss these options with you if indicated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the appliance work to help snoring / sleep apnea?

“The appliance moves the lower jaw forward and holds it there while the patient sleeps. In doing this, the tongue is also pulled forward and is prevented from falling back occluding the airway.”

– Dr. Marc Levin

How effective is the Respire Medical appliance?

“I have treated patients from mild to severe OSA and have seen excellent results with the use of this appliance. I’ve been able to greatly reduce snoring, especially to low decibel levels if not eliminated and most importantly have reduced AHI sleep scores significantly. I’ve even been able to convert severe OSA patient to mild levels with less apneas.”

– Dr. Richard Dunn

Can an appliance be made for someone with dentures?

“You may be able to make an oral appliance successfully over edentulous ridges with an appliance if the ridges are good, using a design like the Respire, where there is no pull between the two arches.”

– Dr. Robert Korngut

How long does it normally take to adapt to the appliance and is it comfortable?

“On average, it take patients a few weeks to adapt to wearing the appliance. Once the initial period of getting used to wearing the appliance is over, patients report that the appliance is comfortable to wear.”