If you or someone you know snores, or has sleep apnea, please read my experiences.
I started researching snoring and sleep apnea about a year ago when I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. I didn’t think I had it, but I went through the sleep study and was very surprised at the results. I would wake up several times a night. Often, I would lie awake and not be able to go back to sleep for at least an hour. I have learned that the waking up was due to my stopping breathing for a period of time. This triggered a hormonal response in my body similar to the fight/flight reflex. Adrenalin was released and I was suddenly awake. When this happened several times, the adrenalin had accumulated and I was “wired” wide awake. It had to have time to be broken back down into my body before I could go back to sleep.
The cause of snoring and sleep apnea is the relaxation of the tongue and throat tissue as we fall asleep. This closes the airway and we are unable to breath. Snoring is the sound produced as we try to force air through the closed airway. How I am treating this for myself and my patients is a dental appliance, TAP, that brings my lower jaw forward, keeping my airway open, stopping the snoring, and giving me (and my wife!) a healthy night’s sleep.
Please watch the video, this explains the subject better than me!
There are many independent peer reviewed articles showing the efficacy of the TAP appliance. The importance of these is that none of the authors has any financial connection to Dr. Keith Thornton, who invented this device or his company, Airways Management, Inc., who produces the device. It’s sometimes hard to find objective studies these days!
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends oral appliances like TAP for the treatment of mild and moderate sleep apnea and in cases of severe sleep apnea when the CPAP has not worked. Unfortunately, most physicians are not familiar with oral appliance therapy for sleep apnea and thus don’t inform their patients. I have worked with many physicians to expose them to the benefits of the TAP appliance for our mutual patients.
Please click on the brochures below to read more information.