Dental appliances for sleep apnea: Do they work?

Keeping your partner — or yourself — up at night with loud snoring? This might be more than a nuisance. About 25% of men and nearly 10% of women have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a serious sleep disorder characterized by explosive snores, grunts, and gasps. Tissue at the back of the throat temporarily obstructs the airway, leading to breathing pauses (apneas) throughout the night. Not only does OSA leave people tired and groggy, but it also puts them at risk for a host of health problems, including high blood pressure, depression, and heart disease. The most effective and best-studied treatment is positive airway pressure (PAP), a small bedside machine that blows air through a mask to prevent your airway from collapsing. But people with mild or moderate OSA sometimes find PAP challenging to use, and often wonder about alternatives. Dental devices (also known as oral appliances) are an option for some people. But do your homework before going this route, cautions Sogol Javaheri, MD, MPH, MA, a sleep specialist at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Who might benefit from a dental device for sleep apnea? “These devices are supposed to reposition your jaw or tongue to open your upper airway. But they can be really uncomfortable and only work about half the time,” Dr. Javaheri says. It’s hard to predict who might benefit from using an oral device, and people with very mild OSA and few symptoms may not notice any difference. As a result, she generall...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Dental Health Fatigue Hypertension and Stroke Sleep Source Type: blogs