Oral Appliance: How Effective Are They for Sleep Apnea?

This small and discreet appliance, known as the mandibular advancement device or splint (MAD/MAS), may help prevent snoring and improve other symptoms of sleep apnea. But, how effective is this alternative for patients?

As everyone continues to sit in offices for extended hours of time, continue to avoid exercise, consume high-calorie food, an epidemic of obesity and sleep disorders seems unstoppable. One sleep disorder that is the most prevalent in the United States is sleep apnea. Its most noticeable symptoms, snoring, not only affects the person living with the sleep disorder, but also their bed partner.

Even the mildest form of sleep apnea may lead to morning headaches, higher blood pressure, insulin resistance, mood swings, and daytime sleepiness, which can definitely affect a patient's daily routine. But, while it is a common issue in the U.S., it still remains undiagnosed for some expressing the symptoms. 

This is because symptoms alone aren't be enough to understand the seriousness of the problem, thus for complete diagnosis a polysomnography is the golden standard. A polysomnography involves wearing a lot of sensors while sleeping to measure the patient's quality of sleep overnight. A sleep specialist may also do a physical examination of he patient to see what may be the reason behind sleep apnea. 

Depending on the reasons, a physician may recommend treatment. But, one of the challenges with sleep apnea is that it could be a chronic condition, which means that any treatment option must be practical for a long time.

A CPAP machine is often the prescribed treatment for sleep apnea, and it involves giving continuous air under pressure. But, while this treatment is highly effective, it is not an easy-to-practice methods, and for some patients, it could be uncomfortable. So, this makes compliance to this method a significant issue, because not every one is comfortable sleeping with a tube of oxygen through their nostrils or a mask while they're asleep. 

In severe cases, surgery may be an excellent option to reduce several of the disorder's symptom. However, no surgical procedure is without risk, so often this isn't the route taken by patients.

So, instead of taking either of these options, some patients opt to use a MAD/MAS, which is an oral appliance that a patient would wear while they're asleep. These are also custom-made for the patient, which helps the position of the jaw change to stop the patient from snoring and improve their quality of sleep.

The best thing is that they are discreet, as the patient would sleep with their mouth closed and no one would notice them using one. Moreover, once a patient gets used to them, they eventually become comfortable. Most of the users would not feel any discomfort, and these devices are definitely safe as no invasive procedure is involved.

The underlying working mechanism is simple; they help to keep the lower jaw in a forward position while they are asleep. In this way, they increase the total space inside the mouth, reduce the turbulence of air, thus in many cases prevent snoring and help to have a sound sleep.