Can't sleep?? Snoring too much? Try this!

Here is something that we don't see too often. A patient came in telling me he was diagnosed with sleep apnea(not to mention snoring)...a condition in which the soft tissues in the back of the throat block the airway while a person is lying on his/her back sleeping.
You don't die from this...however you do not get a normal night's sleep because you are constantly waking up gasping for air...not very restful!
One of the more drastic treatments for this involves wearing a breathing mask hooked up to a ventilator which is on all nite giving you forced air...but who wants that!
So that is where your dentist enters the picture. If the sleep apnea situation is only moderate, we can sometimes solve the problem with a dental device that holds the lower jaw in a forward position. When the jaw is in the forward position the soft tissues in the back of the neck do not block the airway. And this is great to help stop snoring..so all you sleepless spouses out there....keep reading!
Have a look at this seemingly tortuous looking device...something you might see in one of the SAW movies?!

The patient is instructed how to wear this and with the little hooking device built into the front it holds the lower jaw forward as you can see in the following photos.


Now if you can sleep with that you can do anyting!
Have a good weekend and get some rest!!