Foreword	Outline of Sleep Physiology	Sleep disorders	Sleep Apnea Syndrome
Sleep study	Oral appliance	Medical Team	Contact us

Oral appliance

The appearance of the oral appliance is like the teeth protector of the athletes, it is an appliance that the patients wear when they sleep. The principle is based on the forward pulling of the patient’s jaws, soft palate or tongue, and increasing the muscle tension of laryngopharynx, soft palate and tongue, in order to reduce the collapse of the airway wall, increasing the volume of the airway. This is to reduce the snoring during the sleep and treat the Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS). Comparing to the Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) it has the advantage of simplicity in use, easy adaption and convenience in carrying.

Fixed oral appliance	Adjustable oral appliance

Some of the oral appliances can be used in combination with the Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), it can reduce the pressure of the Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) and decrease the discomfort feeling of the patients, with the purpose of treating the patients with sleep apnea.

The combined oral appliance with the Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP)

 

In the past years, more and more oral appliances come to the market. All different kinds of design are based on diverse tooth arch and dentition in order to increase the comfortableness and treatment effect. Until now, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved about 40 types of oral appliances which have therapeutic efficacy of preventing snoring and sleep apnea.

In February 2006, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) has published in its professional journal of “SLEEP” the most updated guidelines to treat the Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS): the oral appliances are the first-line treatment for snoring, the upper airway resistance syndrome, and mild to moderate Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS). If the patients with severe sleep apnea cannot be treated with the Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), they can also use the oral appliances as treatment.

How to treat with the oral appliances?
The oral appliances is another choice for the treatment of sleep breathing disorders, it is a treatment modality with combination of sleep medicine and dentistry.

Patients with sleep apnea syndrome could have related diseases of internal medicine at the same time. The patient shall receive a detailed diagnosis from physicians of Sleep Disorders Center. Correct diagnosis includes differential diagnosis, occurrence type, severity and comorbidity of all different kinds of sleep breathing disorders. The information shall come from all Sleep Disorders Centers. Although it is a treatment with oral appliances, but the purpose is not only on the reduction of snoring or the sleep breathing interruption times, the real purpose is to make the patients healthier, and then increase the life quality. So the correct diagnosis is necessary. Otherwise, it would not have any effect, and the treatment could even be delayed. After receiving a correct diagnosis, the patient shall contact a well experienced dentist with a sleep medicine training background for help