What dental devices are used to treat sleep apnea?

Apnea treatment: There are 2 dental devices that I am familiar with - a mandibular advancing device and a tongue repositioning device. There are multiple manufacturers for each device. They both work by repositioning your anatomy and increasing the space behind your tongue.

Sleep Apnea: There are various appliances. The pm positioner, tap-thorntontap-ist, silencer, ema, telescopic herbst, klearway. Someone trained would need to evaluate and you would need a sleep study be done at a sleep lab before the appliance could be made by the dentist in some states. Your medical doctor could order the study. Many patients can not tolerate the machine.

CPR or shackles?: Having prescribed 100s of these appliances over the years, most work like CPR rescue breathing to hold the jaw (tongue) forward or to prevent it from going backward and by increasing the muscle tonicity in the soft palate. The tongue repositioners work by holding the tongue out of the mouth ("tongue bulb) or like a tongue depressor to compress the tongue--both increase the throat's airway size.

Many: There are 100's of different types of dental sa devices. What may work for one person, may not be indicated for another. You also must keep in mind that otc sa mouthpieces are risky because tmj/tmd issues can arise unless a custom mp is delivered by a trained dental specialist with years of dental sleep medicine. The dentist finds a few that he/she is comfortable with and has had success with.