Comparing Sleep Apnea Treatments

Obstructive sleep apnea interrupts an individual’s sleep by inhibiting a person’s ability to breathe properly. There are different methods that can treat your sleep apnea, and some may be better than others depending on your case. Serving St. Louis, Carondelet Park Dental Care can provide one of these treatments for you: sleep apnea appliances.

CPAP Machine Treatment

For mild to moderate cases of obstructive sleep apnea, oral appliances or the CPAP machine are often recommended. However, there are some major differences between the two treatment options that may affect the results of your treatment.

CPAP, or continuous positive airway pressure, is a machine that delivers air pressure through a mask that you wear over your nose and mouth while you sleep. This pressure is greater than the air around you, and is able to keep your airway passages open, effectively preventing apnea and snoring. This is often considered the gold standard of treatment, and unlike oral appliances, can also a viable treatment for severe obstructive sleep apnea cases. However, many patients may find it too uncomfortable, if not claustrophobic, to wear the mask necessary for a CPAP treatment. CPAP machines are also inconvenient for travel, so patients living a mobile lifestyle might not get the benefits of their sleep apnea treatment regularly.

 

Oral Appliances

 

Oral appliances, such as the appliances used by our St. Louis dental practice, are able to treat mild and moderate sleep apnea cases for CPAP-intolerant patients. The mouth guard-like splint brings the lower jaw forward and inhibits the movement of the tongue. With this positioning, the muscles within the jaw are inhibited to contract, which would have caused snoring and apnea episodes. Oral appliances are travel friendly, easy to clean, and comfortable to wear at night. However, oral appliances are not usually able to effectively treat severe or extreme cases.

Surgical Treatment of Sleep Apnea

The most invasive and expensive treatment for obstructive sleep apnea, surgery is only recommended in extreme cases.

Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPP) is a common surgery used to removed excess tissue to widen the air way. This will allow air flow to move freely, preventing obstructive sleep apnea altogether. Tissues that are removed through this surgery are the uvula, the soft palate, and the tonsils. There are other surgeries that target other excess tissue, but these are all extensive treatments with significant recovery times.

Contact Us for Oral Appliances

The dentists at Carondelet Park Dental Care are here to answer any and all of your questions regarding oral appliance treatments for sleep apnea. Contact our St. Louis dental practice for a consultation regarding your treatments today!