If you are considering your sleep apnea treatment options, there are many things to recommend the use of an oral sleep appliance as an alternative to CPAP. You should take the time to consider your options before committing to any sleep apnea treatment.
Treats All Levels of Obstructive Sleep Apnea
An oral sleep appliance is generally recommended as a frontline treatment for mild or moderate sleep apnea, but it can also be used for severe sleep apnea if you aren’t able to tolerate CPAP. In all cases, you will experience benefit from the oral sleep appliance, but for severe sleep apnea, you might need to consider adjunct treatments to get desired results.
Covered by Most Insurance
Oral sleep appliances are not considered experimental treatments for sleep apnea–they are proven effective treatments. So most insurance companies, including Medicare and Medicaid, will pay for an oral sleep appliance, subject to your usual deductibles and limitations.
We can work with you to understand your coverage and benefits so you’ll have a good idea about your final cost.
Simple
It’s hard to stress this enough: an oral sleep appliance is simple in every way. It’s simple to use, simple to adjust, and simple to maintain.
To use your oral sleep appliance, you just put it in. It may take you a couple days before you have it completely down, but, for the most part, it is easier to use than any other piece of medical equipment you will ever own.
Adjustment is just about as simple. Typically a single screw or tool you can use to adjust it for maximum comfort and effectiveness.
And it’s simple to maintain: just a daily rinse and an occasional soak should be all it takes to keep your oral sleep appliance functioning properly.
Compare this to the complex configuration of tubes, masks, pumps, humidifiers, and heaters necessary for a CPAP machine, and the oral sleep appliance looks even simpler.
Easy to Transport
If you’re going to travel with CPAP you may have to have a separate bag designated just for your CPAP device and its accessories, though if you’re lucky you might be able to find a travel CPAP device that fits your needs.
But even the travel CPAP is much harder and bulkier to transport than an oral sleep appliance, which can easily fit into a handbag, maybe even the pocket of your jacket. There’s no reason not to carry it with you, which means that you’re going to get your sleep apnea treatment while traveling, instead of skipping it.
Comfortable
And perhaps the best advantage of an oral sleep appliance is that most people find it much more comfortable than a CPAP machine. There’s no mask to strap to the face and no hose connecting the mask to the pump. It’s much more like sleeping naturally, without a huge apparatus attached to your face. You won’t feel like you’re being smothered, and you won’t get dry irritated throat from the forced air.
Learn Which Treatment Is Right for You
If you want to talk about your sleep apnea treatment options and learn which is the right choice for you, please call (402) 493-4175 for an appointment with an Omaha sleep dentist at the Advanced Dental Sleep Treatment Center today.
