When to Use a Dental Appliance for Sleep Apnea

If you suffer from sleep apnea, it can be detrimental to your overall health and well-being. In addition, it can be an annoyance to your partner, who has to listen to your snoring. Sleep apnea is a serious condition that should be addressed as soon as possible in order to avoid long-term negative consequences, such as a higher risk of heart disease and inability to concentrate during the daytime.

Although your dentist might not be the first person you’d think of to help treat your sleep apnea, he may be able to help. Dr. Ryan Clancy has had extensive training in sleep apnea symptoms and treatment, and offers a custom dental appliance for appropriate candidates.

Dental Appliance vs. CPAP for Sleep Apnea

Although a CPAP machine is often the first choice to treat people suffering from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), these machines have a number of downsides that may make them a less than ideal choice. These downsides include:

• Uncomfortable to wear
• Hard to get used to
• Loud
• Heavy

CPAP machines are very effective in people who can tolerate them, but unfortunately there are a large number of people who simply can’t get used to their CPAP and just stop using it. If you are one of those people, a dental appliance may be a better choice.

Here at Divine Smiles, we use a custom oral appliance called MicrO2 to effectively help our sleep apnea patients. The benefits of this device include:

• Relatively comfortable
• Small
• Easy to use
• Quiet

This dental appliance may not be the best choice if your sleep apnea is very severe, but for mild to moderate cases, it can work wonders. It is small and easy to wear, and it doesn’t make a lot of noise like a CPAP does. Your partner will enjoy the quiet as well. As a bonus, it can also help with snoring.

Who Can Benefit from a Sleep Apnea Oral Appliance?

People with mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea who don’t need or cannot handle a CPAP are usually the best candidates for an oral appliance. In some cases, even if you have severe sleep apnea, if you never use your CPAP you might consider trying an oral appliance instead.

Our MicrO2 device is custom-fit for your mouth, and works by holding your jaw in position so that your tissues do not collapse and block your airway while sleeping. Untreated sleep apnea can lead to many health problems, so if you or your partner suspects sleep apnea, you should see Dr. Clancy as soon as possible to get started on the diagnosis and treatment process.

Schedule Your Sleep Apnea Consultation

If your snoring is excessively loud, you often wake up tired, you can’t concentrate during the day, or you wake up with dry mouth and headaches, you should schedule a sleep apnea consultation with Dr. Clancy. Call Divine Smiles at (781) 396-8558 to make your appointment today.

By Ryan M. Clancy, DMD, MAGD, LVIF, FPFA, FIAPA | May 7th, 2018 | Sleep Apnea