Sleep Apnea Therapy at Chemung Family Dental

The soft tissues at the back of your throat relax and collapse during sleep, blocking the airway. Breathing pauses repeatedly, blood oxygen falls, and you briefly rouse to reopen the airway, usually without remembering it. This can happen dozens of times an hour.

By a physician, through a sleep study conducted in a lab or at home. We do not diagnose sleep apnea, and any dental practice claiming to should be treated with caution. If you have not been tested, we can help coordinate it.

It holds your lower jaw slightly forward during sleep, which pulls the tongue and soft tissues forward with it and keeps the airway open. It is custom made from impressions of your teeth.

CPAP is more effective in controlled conditions, particularly for severe apnea. But effectiveness depends on use, and adherence to oral appliances is generally higher. For someone who cannot tolerate CPAP, an appliance worn every night can deliver more real benefit than a machine that is not used.

It is best supported for mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea, and for people with severe apnea who cannot tolerate CPAP. You need enough healthy teeth to retain the appliance and a jaw joint that tolerates the position. Dr. Dunn assesses all of this at the consultation.

Most people need a few weeks to adapt. Early on it is common to have extra saliva, some jaw tightness in the morning, or a bite that feels slightly off for a short while after waking. These usually settle. Tell us if they do not.

Long-term use can produce small changes in tooth position and bite over years. This is a real and documented consideration, which is why regular follow-up matters and why we check your bite at reviews. Most people consider it a reasonable trade against untreated apnea.

It reduces or eliminates snoring for most patients, and that is often the change a partner notices first. Snoring reduction alone is not proof the apnea is controlled, though. That needs a follow-up sleep study.

Typically several years with good care, depending on the design and whether you grind your teeth. We check its condition at reviews and tell you when replacement is due.

Oral appliance therapy is generally billed through medical insurance rather than dental, and we handle the paperwork. We also participate with Medicare Part B for medically necessary devices. Coverage varies, and we go through yours at the complimentary consultation.

Some patients do: CPAP at home, appliance for travel. Others use both together under physician guidance. It is worth raising if CPAP works for you in principle but not in every situation.

Very common alongside sleep apnea, and it affects the appliance design and how long it lasts. Mention it at the consultation so we can plan for it rather than discover it when the appliance wears out early.

Yes. Sleep apnea is a medical condition and your physician stays involved throughout, including for diagnosis and for confirming that treatment is working. Dr. Dunn works directly with board-certified sleep physicians and your primary care doctor.