My oral appliance adventure

[andyomega]

I could not stand CPAP treatment because my stomach would fill with air so my doctor suggested I try an oral appliance. This device repositions your lower jaw slightly forward in an attempt to create more space in your throat.

The dentist told me the success rate for the device is 90% and it works best on mild to moderate cases like myself. After shelling out 2600 dollars for the visit, the panoramic xray and the device he slyly tells me not to expect much.
I was like what???
Anyway, only after having no success whatsoever and having the appliance adjusted to its maximum position without causing me too much pain I decided to go for another PSG. As I figured, the oral appliance was completly worthless.

These devices are not covered by medical insurance.

I have done some research and there are much cheaper alternatives that you can try on your own to see if mandibular advancment works for you.

http://www.sleeppro.com sells a boil and bite device for $60.

I have found studies that show oral appliance is considerably less effective than CPAP. Less than 50% effective where CPAP is almost 80%.

I went back to the doctor and told him my experince. I gave him the suggestion that I try an apap and he just said "okay". I have seen three doctors and i swear they just sit there and nod their heads.

I have a new Respironics Apap with CFLEX. Using the CFLEX which is basicly a bi-pap I do not have any more trouble with swallowing air.

Anyway, I am out 2600 dollars and have a worthless piece of plastic now.

DO NOT GIVE UP and praise the internet because it allows us to do our own research !
I have gone from CPAP to oral appliance to Provigil and now to APAP. I will stick with my apap as it works the best.

[teach]

I used an oral appliance for two years and had success until the end. The plastic did not hold up and they were really expensive. I started snoring even with the appliance in my mouth. I don't think they are worth the money and they are very hard to get a good fit. The dentist spent time with me at first but then didn't spend any time with me for the final fitting.

[oceanpearl]

[quote="andyomega"]I could not stand CPAP treatment because my stomach would fill with air so my doctor suggested I try an oral appliance. This device repositions your lower jaw slightly forward in an attempt to create more space in your throat.

The dentist told me the success rate for the device is 90% and it works best on mild to moderate cases like myself. After shelling out 2600 dollars for the visit, the panoramic xray and the device he slyly tells me not to expect much.
I was like what???
Anyway, only after having no success whatsoever and having the appliance adjusted to its maximum position without causing me too much pain I decided to go for another PSG. As I figured, the oral appliance was completly worthless.

These devices are not covered by medical insurance.

I have done some research and there are much cheaper alternatives that you can try on your own to see if mandibular advancment works for you.

http://www.sleeppro.com sells a boil and bite device for $60.

I have found studies that show oral appliance is considerably less effective than CPAP. Less than 50% effective where CPAP is almost 80%.

I went back to the doctor and told him my experince. I gave him the suggestion that I try an apap and he just said "okay". I have seen three doctors and i swear they just sit there and nod their heads.

I have a new Respironics Apap with CFLEX. Using the CFLEX which is basicly a bi-pap I do not have any more trouble with swallowing air.

Anyway, I am out 2600 dollars and have a worthless piece of plastic now.

DO NOT GIVE UP and praise the internet because it allows us to do our own research !
I have gone from CPAP to oral appliance to Provigil and now to APAP. I will stick with my apap as it works the best.

[socknitster]

Interesting thread. I'm hoping to try an oral appliance in conjunction with cpap therapy to try to "seal" my mouth (I puff out my lips--sooooo unattractive) in an attempt to stop swallowing air. I'll let you all know how my experience pans out.

I decided to start with a boil and bite that is on its way. If that works I may try the "nose breathe for heavy snorers" which is also a tongue positioner to help you keep your tongue in a certain position keep you breathing thru your nose only.

I have severe osa so an oral appliance all by itself isn't even an option for me.

[dieselgal]

What is this nose breathe thing you spoke about socknitster?

[socknitster]

What is this nose breathe thing you spoke about socknitster?

http://quietsleep.com/oralappliancether ... escrip.cfm

The Nose Breathe is the oral appliance listed on the right side just a couple down. It is yellow. I have already been in contact with the dentist in Hawaii who would make it. He sends you a kit. You make a bite impression and you send it back. This website is nice because it shows all the different ones on the market. My dentist wants to make me a SnoreGuard (clear, farther down the list), but I don't think it is the way I want to go because it still allows you to mouth breath and I want to create a seal.

Here is the Nose Breath website:

http://www.nosebreathe.com/snoring.html

For now I am going to try a boil and bite I found on ebay, mentioned by someone else on this site (screen name tangents I believe). She said it formed a seal and doesn't let her mouth breathe but is very comfy.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0131267049

Neither the nose breathe nor the boil and bite will repostion the lower jaw. My idea is only to seal the mouth (I puff through my lips). There are many appliances meant to reposition the lower jaw in an attempt to keep the tongue from falling back. The TAP and the OASYS both look promising for that purpose and are pricey.

Jen

[dieselgal]

Thanks for the info!

[Snoredog]

My opinion:

I think your money would be better spent (before you spent any) that you:

Obtaining a copy of your PSG and looking for all data seen there. Does no good to spend thousands on a cpap, dental or tongue retaining device if you have 30 spontaneous arousals per hour or PLM's that are the main contributors to your daytime fatigue.

I have yet to see a single study where the dental device addresses any of those non-obstructive conditions.

So if you are buying any of those devices it is in your best interest to first find out and know in advance of what you are trying to fix with them. Otherwise, you might as well go to Vegas and just put that money on the pass line, your odds would be better.

[andyomega]

I had the study with me and the dentist went over it and told me I was a good candidate. He is just a big phoney liar and stole my money. I can thank my sleep doctor for that, why did he send me there? worthless doctors.....

[quote="Snoredog"]My opinion:

I think your money would be better spent (before you spent any) that you:

Obtaining a copy of your PSG and looking for all data seen there. Does no good to spend thousands on a cpap, dental or tongue retaining device if you have 30 spontaneous arousals per hour or PLM's that are the main contributors to your daytime fatigue.

I have yet to see a single study where the dental device addresses any of those non-obstructive conditions.

So if you are buying any of those devices it is in your best interest to first find out and know in advance of what you are trying to fix with them. Otherwise, you might as well go to Vegas and just put that money on the pass line, your odds would be better.

[oceanpearl]

My suggestion wour be to try a "No Mask" http://cpappro.com/. I have found that it is pretty hard to mouth breathe if you have one of these babies in your mouth.
It is also a boil and form.

[socknitster]

snoredog said:

Obtaining a copy of your PSG and looking for all data seen there. Does no good to spend thousands on a cpap, dental or tongue retaining device if you have 30 spontaneous arousals per hour or PLM's that are the main contributors to your daytime fatigue.

Can you describe what a spontaneous arounsal or plm is? I am still trying to get my report. All I know is that I had an AHI of 30, most of which were hypopneas and just a couple of apneas. Thank you for your thoughtful comments, snoredog. I appreciate you watching out for my wallet. I know it is easy to give in to desperation and want to try everything no matter the cost.

oceanpearl said:

My suggestion wour be to try a "No Mask" http://cpappro.com/. I have found that it is pretty hard to mouth breathe if you have one of these babies in your mouth.
It is also a boil and form.

VERY INTERESTING. This looks like EXACTLY what I'm looking for. I am going to call my dme and see if they can get it for me or where I would need to go from here. Thank you so much. I had not seen that one yet. Do you have one, Oceanpearl? I'm very curious about it.

I'm at a very weird place right now. I'm still only able to keep my bipap on for a couple of hours a night. I have been taking prilosec OTC for 7 days now to treat the silent GERD that may have been contributing to my apnea and now I am waking up feeling better than ever and my husband says I have stopped snoring (this is without the mask). Now, surely I haven't gone from 30 AHI to nothing. But is it possible to go from severe to moderate? That is why I am hoping a dental appliance might take care of it at this point as long as I keep a watchful eye on it. It is really nice to feel awake during the day. Don't mean to hijack this thread--I plan to post something about this in its own thread. I'm very confused!

Jen

[oceanpearl]

snoredog said:

Obtaining a copy of your PSG and looking for all data seen there. Does no good to spend thousands on a cpap, dental or tongue retaining device if you have 30 spontaneous arousals per hour or PLM's that are the main contributors to your daytime fatigue.

Can you describe what a spontaneous arounsal or plm is? I am still trying to get my report. All I know is that I had an AHI of 30, most of which were hypopneas and just a couple of apneas. Thank you for your thoughtful comments, snoredog. I appreciate you watching out for my wallet. I know it is easy to give in to desperation and want to try everything no matter the cost.

oceanpearl said:

My suggestion wour be to try a "No Mask" http://cpappro.com/. I have found that it is pretty hard to mouth breathe if you have one of these babies in your mouth.
It is also a boil and form.

VERY INTERESTING. This looks like EXACTLY what I'm looking for. I am going to call my dme and see if they can get it for me or where I would need to go from here. Thank you so much. I had not seen that one yet. Do you have one, Oceanpearl? I'm very curious about it.

I'm at a very weird place right now. I'm still only able to keep my bipap on for a couple of hours a night. I have been taking prilosec OTC for 7 days now to treat the silent GERD that may have been contributing to my apnea and now I am waking up feeling better than ever and my husband says I have stopped snoring (this is without the mask). Now, surely I haven't gone from 30 AHI to nothing. But is it possible to go from severe to moderate? That is why I am hoping a dental appliance might take care of it at this point as long as I keep a watchful eye on it. It is really nice to feel awake during the day. Don't mean to hijack this thread--I plan to post something about this in its own thread. I'm very confused!

Jen

[Arkanoid]

My diagnosis was early last year for severe OSA 63 episodes an hour. I tried the best I could with CPAP, then I got an Auto. Still hated them and I didn't feel any better after wearing them all night every night. Software reported that my AHIs were minimal 1-2 a night. I bought an pulse ox to watch what was happening the best I could with it. My oxygen level during my sleep study dropped to 73.

Hating the CPAP I tried the TAP II that I got for $1275. After getting used to it by wearing both it (as I was cranking it out) and the xPap I dropped to just the TAP. My oxygen levels looked the same on the TAP as when on xPap only. The downside was my snoring wasn't affected.

A month ago tomorrow, I had a UVPPP or as some refer to it as a UPPP. I also had a deviated septum fixed, and finally my turbinates cauterized. In my recovery time, rare nights I still snored but it is very soft and short. Since going back to the TAP the snoring is gone (so far). Being married less than a year, that was very important to me. I will continue to watch it and go for another sleep study in another 3-4 months.

That is just my experience.

Hopefully the sleep study will tell me what I want to know. Like everything else I have read here nothing works for everyone.

[GeneS]

I wear a http://www.snorban.com along with my cpap. I think it helps.
GeneS

[socknitster]

Arkanoid said:

I bought an pulse ox to watch what was happening the best I could with it. My oxygen level during my sleep study dropped to 73.

Very interesting story. I didn't know you could just buy a pulse ox. Are they expensive? Where do you get one?

GeneS wrote:

I wear a http://www.snorban.com along with my cpap. I think it helps.

This looks interesting and it does the same thing that my dentist wants to make for $400. He said it would hold my teeth out edge to edge like that. And does it make it possible for you to use a nasal-only interface without mouth leaks? Considering my facial structure, the ff masks just don't work, so this looks like it could be an alternative for me and easier (and less scary for my son) than tape on my mouth.

Jen