Studies continue to show increasingly similar results treating Sleep Apnea between Oral Appliances and CPAP, even in severe cases.
When oral appliances were first introduced to treat sleep apnea they were thought to be secondary, or sub-optimal alternatives to CPAP. Studies that have looked at long term outcomes, as in the Journal of Dental Sleep Medicine Efficacy versus Effectiveness in the Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea: CPAP and Oral Appliances are showing similar long term outcomes on many of the risk factors of sleep apnea (see graphic) regardless of the method of treatment.
Patients want alternatives to their CPAP for travel, business, camping or just to have a choice when they get tired of their CPAP later in the night. Having 2 methods of managing Sleep Breathing Disorders that can be interchanged (or 100% compliance with either method) is being shown to have similar long term outcomes as studies have had more years to gather data.
If you aren’t using CPAP all the time, consider adding an Oral Appliance as an alternative therapy.
