Oral Appliance Therapy for Sleep Apnea – Las Vegas, NV
Ditch the CPAP Machine & Regain Restful Sleep
If your general doctor or sleep specialist has diagnosed you with obstructive sleep apnea, they may recommend CPAP treatment as the ideal solution. However, the bulkiness, discomfort, and difficulty involved with the machine’s use can result in intolerance; in fact, nearly half of patients on average stop using it at the end of the first year. That’s why Dr. Pam West and her staff here at iSleepSolutions in Las Vegas, NV recommend oral appliance therapy for patients who suffer from mild to moderate sleep apnea.
This approach uses a device that is custom-fit for your unique mouth and is exceptionally easy to use when compared with traditional CPAP therapy, and the results can transform both your health and your overall quality of life. Combined therapy is also available for patients with severe cases who may not achieve optimal results with only an oral appliance.
Most Common Types of Oral Sleep Appliances Prescribed for Sleep Apnea Treatment
- Mandibular Repositioning Device – This kind of oral appliance is designed to slightly reposition your lower jaw (mandible) in a comfortable way, as well as the tongue, uvula, and soft palate. Therefore, during sleep, the airway should remain much clearer for easy breathing.
- Tongue Retaining Device – This type of oral appliance’s job is to hold the tongue forward away from your airway; this prevents it from falling backward and inadvertently causing sleep apnea. Dr. West typically recommends this choice for patients with unusually large tongues, a significant amount of tooth loss, or chronic joint pain.
iSleepSolutions Effective Oral Appliance Options
- SomnoDent® Avant™- The innovative design gently closes your mouth, so you breathe through your nose while you are sleeping. This eliminates snoring in most people, as well as preventing dry mouth, which is a common complaint with other oral appliances (and CPAP). This appliance includes the Bflex soft liner which provides optimal comfort and a more secure fit.
- Herbst Advance Elite™ - This material has greater resistance to the bending and flexing forces that occur when you open and close your mouth, so is less likely to break. This appliance also includes the Bflex soft liner.
- SomnoDent® Fusion – Along with the Bflex soft liner, this appliance includes replaceable “wings” that are used to move your jaw forward and stop your tongue and soft tissues from blocking your airway during sleep. The upper and lower pieces are separate and users like that they can place the upper splint on their teeth, and then their lower splint, making it easy to wear every night.
- Panthera Classic – Made of medical grade nylon polyamide type 12. This material has high tensile strength and is resistant to bruxing, cracking and abrasion. Top end biocompatibility ensure the rarest levels of allergy and intolerances. Easy to clean, retains clean white appearance.
- Vivos mmRNA/DNA -These daytime-nighttime appliances gradually expand the palate and arches to further develop the patient’s jaw. The oral cavity takes on a more developed structure; the jaw and tongue assume better positions; the airway opens and remains open to supply the body with improved airflow. Oral and overall health problems can subsequently diminish and disappear.
- HealthyStart® - For kids, the HealthyStart® System is a fantastic solution! It's a pain-free, non-invasive, and non-pharmaceutical approach to opening the airway and straightening teeth without braces. This system utilizes a series of appliances to tackle symptoms of Sleep Disordered Breathing, which affects 9 out of 10 children. These symptoms often go unnoticed or untreated and tend to worsen over time.
Most Common Side-Effects
Most side-effects associated with the routine use of a customized oral appliance can be corrected very easily. These could include:
By providing a morning positioning appliance, we can effectively alleviate many of the common side effects
- An abundance of saliva
- Joint discomfort
- Muscle discomfort
- Dental discomfort
- Dry mouth
In rare instances, the use of an oral appliance may cause unwelcome tooth and jaw movement. We do strongly recommend that patients attend regular appointments with Dr. West so that our team can determine whether any concerning issues are occurring as soon as possible.
Understanding the Cost of Oral Appliance Therapy
While sleep apnea might only sound like it interrupts your bedtime, it can have some significant negative impacts on your overall health. For this reason, you’ll want to get a diagnosis as well as start treatment for your condition sooner rather than later, that way you can start achieving greater quality of rest. Our team will walk you through what to expect from oral appliance therapy along with an estimate of the cost of treatment.
Does Dental Insurance Cover the Cost of Oral Appliance Therapy?
In many cases, dental insurance will not provide full or partial coverage for the total price of sleep apnea treatment. This is because diagnosing and addressing this situation is not considered by many insurers to be part of the field of dentistry. That said, there could be some exceptions depending on the specific details of your policy, so you’ll want to speak with your insurance company about your benefits so that you don’t miss anything. Our team will also be more than happy to help you with the ins and outs of your plan.
Factors That Affect the Cost of Oral Appliance Therapy
Two factors predominantly contribute to how much you’ll have to pay for sleep apnea: the severity of your condition and the treatment type. For those with incredibly mild sleep apnea issues, you might be fine with getting simple relief through certain lifestyle adjustments, such as changing your pillow or sleeping position, instead of needing advanced treatments. For mild to moderate sleep apnea, wearing an oral appliance is one of the most affordable and convenient options. Those with a more severe condition might require a CPAP machine or combined therapy. Of course, oral appliance therapy is much more affordable compared to using a CPAP machine.
Treat Your Sleep Apnea Now to Improve Your Health
Even if your dental insurance policy doesn’t cover sleep apnea treatment, you’ll want to remember that addressing your situation will be in your best interest in the long run. Leaving this condition untreated can lead to further complications like chronic fatigue to more serious accidents that can occur if you aren’t well-rested. Even certain health problems can develop, including the risk of diabetes, heart disease, weight gain, hypertension, stroke, and more. By treating sleep apnea now, you can save yourself from needing to pay for more costly extensive treatments.
Making Oral Appliance Therapy More Affordable
While sleep apnea might not be covered by insurance, it doesn’t mean you’ll immediately be on your own. Our team is proud to offer flexible financing to help patients focus more on their treatment instead of their wallet. Through third-party financiers like CareCredit and LendingClub, you can pay for the cost of oral appliance therapy through monthly installments instead of a lump sum. Plus, these plans come with little to no interest, meaning you can save more while getting a better quality of sleep!