Obstructive sleep apnoea: mandibular advancement device helps against daytime sleepiness.

[2greys]

With the help of a mandibular advancement device (MAD), daytime sleepiness of patients with obstructive sleep apnoea can be relieved. Treatment with an MAD is not inferior to positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy with a sleep mask. This is the conclusion reached by the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) in its final report on the benefit of MAD.

Breathing pauses disturb sleep and lead to daytime sleepiness

Obstructive sleep apnoea is characterized by a recurrent obstruction (= narrowing / blockage) of the upper airway during sleep. It occurs when the upper airway muscles become flaccid. This narrows the airway in the pharynx or even blocks it completely, resulting in loud snoring sounds when breathing in and out. People with obstructive sleep apnoea – usually without noticing it – have difficulties breathing while sleeping, including breathing pauses, and are very sleepy during the day. In the long term, this increases the risk of other diseases and can have a huge impact on quality of life. It is estimated that about 5% of men and 3% of women suffer from obstructive sleep apnoea.

iqwig.de/en/press/press-rel...

[Possumgoose]

Good advert for someone, but like a lot of such adverts, not the true story. After being diagnosed with osa I used one of these for 6 months while I was in the NHS queue for a Cpap machine. Totally useless. Made no difference at all. Then got my machine and effect was 100% improvement. Plastic job (which had cost me a fair bit of cash as NHS didn’t recognise them) went in bin.

[Ortho10 in reply to Possumgoose]

The success of these appliances does rely very much on the skill of the prescribing dentist, and good feedback from the patient.

A balance between getting the maximum mandibular advancement vs the ability of the patient to tolerate the appliance is what needs to be achieved.

With a lot of these appliances there is a degree of adjustment available, and if it does not work initially, it is important to return to the prescribing clinician.

I know in my area (South West) MAD's are available from the NHS upon referral from a respiratory consultant.

Ps, fantastic that your Cpap device works for you, I would say that these are regarded as the gold standard.

[HungryHufflepuff]

I know for a fact I don't snore, having shared a room with friends or family over the years. The past few nights I've woken myself up snoring 🤔 I don't know why this has suddenly started.