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Article: Oral appliances offer option for sleep apnea: if patients can't tolerate CPAP, they may want to try a dental appliance before undergoing surgery.(Pulmonary Medicine)(continuous positive airway pressure device)
- Article from:
- Internal Medicine News
- Article date:
- October 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 International Medical News Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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When a patient with obstructive sleep apnea can't tolerate using a continuous positive airway pressure device, what's the next step?
"The option people end up thinking about when CPAP fails is typically surgery," said Kent Moore, M.D., D.D.S., president of the Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine.
But there is another alternative.
"There is strong level 1 data showing that oral appliance therapy can be more effective than soft palate surgery," said Dr. Moore, an oral/maxillofacial surgeon in private practice in Charlotte, N.C.
For example, one prospective randomized trial compared dental appliances with uvulopalatopharyngoplasty in 95 men ...