May 10, 2008

Is Sleep Apnea Dental Appliance A Cure

by Suzy Hughes

Do you know sleep apnea dental appliance can help to mitigate or eliminate from the effects of sleep apnea? So if you are suffering sleep apnea this article will be good for you because we are going to see a concise overview of a few of commonly used appliances.

Can Sleep Apnea Dental Appliance Reduce Sleep Apnea

What happened in sleep apnea is that the muscles in the throat may relax too much, and this may narrow the airway significantly. Not only that the tongue may also collapse, or fold back, when this happened the air passage closes off and disturbs the normal flow of breathing. This is not a minor case anymore because this is the one that may affect bigger organs like the brain and heart. Many sleep apnea patients have turned to oral appliances which have been proven to provide positive results. What it does is controlling the movement of the tongue or by repositioning the lower jaw to make sure that the airways to stay open. Sometimes, what the actually need is only a sleep apnea dental appliance to help their sleep apnea symptoms. In addition it can also be used together with a Continuous Positive Air Pressure (CPAP) machine. Before you determine which sleep apnea dental appliance is right for you, you have to get both your medical doctor and your dentist to evaluate your condition. For choosing the dentist however, it’s important that you get a dentist that has experience in fitting these oral appliances before. This is because not every dentist knows how to do that and a poorly fitted appliance may cause unnecessary problems.

The Oral Appliances That Are Used

With over forty different types of sleep apnea dental appliance available to help sleep apnea symptoms, you may feel overwhelmed at first. But your dentist will tell you that the principles used in these devices fall into two general categories, which should make your selection much easier. Basically, oral appliances are classified by how they work or by their specific design.

The names of these appliances are descriptive enough to give you the basic idea of how they work.Among all the two most widely used Sleep Apnea Dental Appliance are tongue retaining appliances and mandibular repositioning appliances. A retainer holds the tongue in a forward position if you are using a tongue retaining appliance, it stops the back of the tongue from collapsing during sleep. The second type of device puts the lower jaw in a protruded position to keep the airway open. Both of these oral appliances have been proven to be successful in curing sleep apnea patients.

Choose the Right Dentist

Don’t just simply go to any dentist, the one that you are going to choose must have specific knowledge in this area. Remember that getting a right sleep apnea dental appliance is so important. Make sure your nasal passages and airways will be thoroughly examined with a diagnostic tool that uses sound waves. Only then the dentist will have the whole picture and consequently the sleep apnea dental appliance can be correctly fitted.

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