Are you suffering from sleep apnea? Do you know that the sleep apnea dental appliance can mitigate or eliminate its effects. In this article we are going to see a brief overview of some regularly used appliances.
Can Sleep Apnea Dental Appliance Reduce Your Problem
What causes it to happen? There are a few reasons that may give rise to sleep apnea:
1. The muscles in the throat relaxes too much and significantly narrows the airway.
2. The air passage and the normal flow of breathing may be disturbed when the tongue collapses, or folds back, thereby shutting off the breathing.
This is considered to be a severe condition which may affect important organs like the brain and heart. What should be done? Oral appliances have been used to provide positive results in patients due to their effectiveness in treating it by controlling the movement of the tongue or by repositioning the lower jaw to allow the airways to stay open. Sometimes, what a patient need is an appliance to help the symptoms, but most cases, they are used together with a Continuous Positive Air Pressure (CPAP) machine. To decide if the dental appliance is suitable for you, both your medical doctor and your dentist should jointly study your condition. However, it's paramount that you opt for a dentist that has experience in fitting these oral appliances. Not every dentist knows how, and bear in mind that a poorly fitted appliance may cause other problems.
Different Types Of Oral Appliances
It may be difficult for you to believe that there are over forty different types of oral appliances available to help the symptoms. However when you consult your dentist he may tell you these aids fall into two general categories, this will definitely make your selection faster and easier. What are the categories? There are based on how they work or by their specific design.
Tongue retaining appliances and mandibular repositioning appliances are the two most widely used dental appliance. You are going to have the basic idea of how they work because their names are descriptive. How a letter retaining appliance works is a retainer holds the tongue in a forward position, which brings the back of the tongue from collapsing during sleep. The next device places the lower jaw in a protruded position to maintain the airway open at all time. Success rate in treating patients with both of these oral appliances have been promising.
How To Identify the Right Dentist
Do not 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 passes and airways will be thoroughly examined with a diagnostic tool that uses sound waves. Only then the dentist will have the whole picture and consequentially the sleep apnea dental appliance can be correctly fitted.
