Oral Appliance Therapies for Snoring & Sleep Apnea

Snoring isn’t just a nuisance for your sleep partner. It’s a sign that your airway is at least partially blocked, keeping you from getting the oxygen you need. It’s the sound of air being forced past an obstruction.

That blockage may be caused by the muscles around the top of your windpipe relaxing, partly covering the passage to the trachea. Or the lower jaw falling back as you relax, narrowing that passage. Or excess tissue around the top of the windpipe. Or the tongue falling backward.

When the blockage is so severe that you actually stop breathing periodically through the night, it’s not just a snoring problem. It’s obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) – and an elevated risk of cardiometabolic problems, cognitive decline, and even sudden death.

It used to be that CPAP was the only available treatment – a life-saving technology, to be sure, but also one that many people find intolerable. Today, there’s another first line treatment option available, even for severe OSA: oral appliance therapy.

Many oral appliances for apnea work simply by holding the lower jaw forward to keep the tongue from falling back and the airway free and clear. These can be effective, but in many cases, they fail to address the root problems: incorrect tongue posture and underdeveloped jaws.

Homeobloc

The Homeobloc appliance is one option for improving the airway. You can think of it as a palatal expander for adults, gently stimulating new bone growth through light forces. The result is a roomier airway, with plenty of space for the tongue to rest in an optimal position so it doesn’t block the throat. At the same time, it can help improve facial symmetry and maintain excellent balance between the upper and lower jaws.

OSB Therapy: Oral Systemic Balance

Oral Systemic Balance (OSB) Therapy applies new knowledge of the effect that teeth and other oral structures have on the tongue and throat airway. Here, we use devices that look like retainers and fit comfortably over your teeth, gently guiding your tongue into an optimal position so your airway remains always clear. Not only can this improve snoring and OSA; breathing, swallowing, and speaking can become much easier.

Since your body no longer needs to compensate by bruxing – clenching and grinding during sleep in an attempt to clear the airway – or adopting odd postures to keep the airway open, you may find that you also have fewer of the aches and pains that come from such habits: chronic headaches, face pain, jaw pain, neck pain. What you may have more of? Better sleep and more energy through the day.

Wonderful things can and do happen when everything is properly balanced!