Last week I was discussing sleep apnea and surgeries and how they are usually reserved for those who have tried the CPAP and it doesn’t really help them. I received a comment from Thomas Bishara, DMD about the mandibular advancement splint (a device that I can’t remember if I had heard about before or not)
Here is the comment…
I treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and primary snoring patients. The mandibular advancement splint is a popular non-surgical approach to snoring/OSA treatment.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends oral appliance therapy as the first line therapy for mild and moderate OSA. Patients with severe OSA should try CPAP first. If patient is found to be CPAP intolerant, they should be fitted for a MAS.
We also use combination CPAP/MAS to reduce the CPAP pressure and make using CPAP more comfortable. Many patients have tried the surgical route with mixed results, Thanks for your post
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends oral appliance therapy as the first line therapy for mild and moderate OSA. Patients with severe OSA should try CPAP first. If patient is found to be CPAP intolerant, they should be fitted for a MAS.
We also use combination CPAP/MAS to reduce the CPAP pressure and make using CPAP more comfortable. Many patients have tried the surgical route with mixed results, Thanks for your post
The mandibular advancement splint sounds interesting of course like the Dr. said it is only for mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea. Any time you can find a non-surgical device to help with sleep apnea you should consider it. I looked at Wikipedia and I found a picture of the device. Although it doesn’t appear to be very comfortable looking it still may be worth a try.
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