Sleep Apnea Treatment
Anyone who has, or lives with someone who has, sleep apnea understands how serious this problem can be and how important it is to have an effective sleep apnea treatment. The most prevalent form of this sleep disorder is Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), a condition that causes people to stop breathing while they are sleeping. These breathing interruptions can range from a few short seconds of time all the way up to a minute or more, and they are generally accompanied with habitual snoring.
While there are numerous reasons why people suffer with this chronic ailment, the one major situation is that facial and/or throat muscles and soft tissue relax to the point that the airway becomes blocked. These episodes can occur hundreds of times during the night, interrupt a person’s sleep cycle, and can result in excessive daytime drowsiness and lack of mental clarity.
SLEEP APNEA TREATMENT OPTIONS AND CPAP MACHINES
Sleep apnea treatment can involve either a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine, dental sleep medicine, or surgery. The information provided here will address the non-surgical therapy approaches for treating snoring and sleep apnea. Each patient’s adaptability to a sleep disorder treatment needs to be evaluated and discussed with their medical professional.
WHAT IS A CPAP MACHINE?
The use of a conventional CPAP machine as a sleep disorder treatment means that a patient needs to wear either a full or partial face mask attached to a length of tubing that is operated by a machine that is continually running.
The function of a CPAP device is to force pressurized air into a person’s lungs. The patient’s range of movement while sleeping is constricted due to the tubing and it takes a while for the patient to become used to the device. Unfortunately, nearly half of CPAP patients never become comfortable with their machines and stop using them.
ARE THERE OTHER OPTIONS?
Dental sleep medicine is a more modern approach to sleep apnea treatment. This therapy involves the use of oral appliances for snoring and OSA patients with mild to moderate sleep apnea. Oral appliances are similar in appearance to mouth guards, they are worn only when sleeping, they do not require any external attachments, and they hold the mouth in a position that keeps the air passages open. Two effective oral appliances are the Dorsal and Herbst sleep apnea devices.
REVOLUTIONARY SLEEP APNEA TREATMENTS SLEEP APNEA TREATMENT WITHOUT CPAP
One revolutionary dental sleep medicine therapy uses the Dorsal anti-snoring and OSA appliance. The Dorsal is a versatile apparatus that can be made from acrylic, thermal, or dual laminate materials to custom fit individual oral situations. Each model allows for patient convenience and comfort. The devices have tiny built-in screws for any necessary professional adjustments.
Another popular patient sleep disorder treatment that doesn’t involve a mask, uses the Herbst original device and the Herbst telescopic sleep appliance. Like the Dorsal appliance, the Herbst can be made from a variety of materials and is patient friendly for comfort and convenience. To make the Herbst device allergy safe, it does not use any methyl-methacrylate resins. The state-of-the-art screws within the Herbst device allows for microscopic adjustments when needed.