Appliance Monitoring
The oral appliance is strictly a mechanical device to maintain an open airway during sleep. It does not cure snoring or sleep apnea. Therefore, the device must be worn nightly for a lifetime to be effective.
Overtime, simple snoring may develop into sleep apnea. Sleep Apnea may also become worse. Therefore, the appliance may not maintain its effectiveness over time.
The oral appliance needs to be checked at least twice a year to ensure proper fit and the mouth also needs to be examined to assure a healthy condition. If any unusual symptoms occur, you are advised to schedule an office visit to evaluate the situation.
Individuals who have been diagnosed as having Sleep Apnea may notice that after sleeping with an oral appliance they feel more refreshed and alert during the day. This is only subjective evidence of improvement and may be misleading. The only way to accurately measure whether the appliance is keeping the oxygen level sufficiently high to prevent abnormal heart rhythms is to be retested with a pulse oximeter and/or ambulatory sleep recorder. This will be repeated until an acceptable improvement is noted.
An ambulatory PSG will be rerun prior to returning to the primary care physician for a follow-up in-house polysomnogram for verification of effective treatment of your breathing disorder.
Our usual schedule of recall once an appliance has been placed is as follows:
- Delivery of Oral Appliance
- Re-evaluation as needed up to the one week followup to be sure appliance fits properly and that there are no undue problems
- One week followup
- 3 month follow-up
- 6 month follow-up
- 1-year post delivery follow-up and each year afterwards
- Re-evaluaation of the efficacy as needed
- 3-6mo re-evaluation by your general dentist for your dental health
It is essential for your health and the health of your teeth, gums and mouth that you conform to this schedule.