Exploring OSA Treatment
Submitted by New Jersey Snoring Solutions on Tue 08/26/2014 - 09:15
Individuals who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea (a disorder in which the sufferer temporarily stops breathing while sleeping) understand how exhausting it can be. Those with obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA, may experience as many as 80 to 500 episodes each night, leaving them feeling uncontrollably sleepy, irritable or depressed in the following days.
Thankfully, West Orange sleep apnea dentist Dr. Ivan F. Stein, founder of New Jersey Sleep Apnea Solutions, offers several OSA treatment options to help you sleep peacefully.
Traditional OSA Treatment Options
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) recommends oral appliance therapy for the treatment of mild to moderate OSA. If an individual suffers from a severe case of OSA, he or she might instead benefit from a continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, machine. However, some patients do not use their CPAP machine, for a variety of reasons. For example, many individuals find the pressure and heat from the CPAP mask to be too uncomfortable, or that their mask does not stay in place throughout the night. For whatever reason, if using a CPAP machine to treat OSA is not an option, oral appliance therapy should be revisited as a viable treatment option.
More About Oral Appliances
There are upwards of 80 oral appliances available for the treatment of OSA. Most are categorized as either a tongue-retraining device (TRD) or a mandibular-repositioning device (MRD). Both types of oral appliances are designed to keep the airway clear and unobstructed, so the patient can breathe easily while sleeping. TRD devices achieve this aim by using a suctioning action to keep the tongue in a forward position. MRD appliances keep the airway clear by repositioning the lower jaw, holding it in a forward position.
Innovation in OSA Treatment
Given that every person has a unique oral anatomy, customizing an oral appliance that properly fits each individual is ideal when treating OSA. To this end, Dr. Stein personally engineered one of the most-used oral devices available: Oravan OSA, an FDA-cleared, custom-made MRD oral appliance.
The innovative Oravan OSA appliance offers many benefits that other oral appliances do not. It has an entirely open anterior design with no hidden retainers, splints or maxillary guards that restrict range of motion. Also, the front of the mouth is not covered with Oravan OSA, allowing more freedom to talk and yawn. The revolutionary device is less bulky and cumbersome than other oral appliances, so it is comfortable and easy to use. This contributes to a higher rate of patient compliance than with other MRD appliances.
To learn more about your OSA treatment options, including the innovative Oravan OSA appliance,schedule a complimentary consultation with Dr. Stein of New Jersey Sleep Apnea Solutions by calling (855) 949-7667.
