As always, we work with and advise a medical assessment for the optimal management of Sleep Apnoea. At The Beacon Dental Sleep Medicine Clinic www.beacondentalsleep.ie we work with a variety of Medical Practitioners: Consultants in Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Endocrinologists, Cardiologists Health Screening Clinics, Menopause Clinics, General Practitioners and Advanced Nurse Practitioners in General Medical Practice to deliver precise, precision fit Oral Appliance Therapy for their patients, diagnosed with varying degrees of Sleep Apnoea.
Sleep Apnoea can be Central Sleep Apnoea, which is less commonly diagnosed. The more commonly diagnosed Sleep Apnoea is Mild, Moderate and Severe Sleep Apnoea.
Mild and Moderate Sleep Apnoea typically responds very well to MAD (Mandibular Advancement Therapy) also known as OAT (Oral Appliance Therapy), with patient specific precision design and fit.
It can also be used when CPAP intolerance, i.e. a patient’s inability to tolerate CPAP causes them to discontinue their CPAP therapy. This is commonly due to its cumbersome and often noisy presence in the bedroom, the force with which air enters the airway, causing claustrophobia and a ‘gulping air feeling in the gut’ amongst several other patient described intolerances of CPAP therapy.
It is important medical guidance is maintained in the treatment of Sleep Apnoea and here in the Beacon Dental Sleep Medicine Clinic, we work closely with our Medical Colleagues to maintain optimal treatment for the management of a complex variety of patient presentations in Sleep Disordered Breathing, including Sleep Apnoea.
Sleep Apnoea is becoming more prevalent, often the first presentation is snoring and snoring may be a symptom of Sleep Apnoea.
Medical assessment, via Hospital or Home Sleep Testing will help ascertain the detail of the Sleep Disordered problem and provide an accurate diagnosis, where indicated, which leads to the most appropriate treatment for each patient.
Sleep Apnoea refers to frequent lapses in breathing which can occur throughout the night. The main form of the condition is Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA), which is typically caused by overcrowding of the airway, leading to varying degrees of airway blockage. One treatment of the condition is Oral Appliance Therapy (OAT), commonly also called MAD ( Mandibular Advancement Device Therapy)
Mandibular Advancement Devices (MAD)
An MAD is a precise dental device system. At the Beacon Dental Sleep Medicine Clinic, a scan is taken for the individual patient’s anatomy and sent to one of several laboratories we use for the design and manufacture for each individual patient’s clinical diagnosis and presentation.
When a patient has their full complement of healthy teeth, the design can be straightforward. In patients with absent teeth or dental disease processes in place, there may be preliminary treatment requirements to be managed, prior to the design of a specific device.
We work with a variety of device manufacturers to overcome any presenting anatomical issues and provide bespoke devices, for optimal patient treatment outcomes.
In brief, device therapy works by very precisely moving the lower jaw and tongue forward, in a planned and managed way to avoid any jaw joint or dental complications, preventing the throat muscles from collapsing, keeping the airway open overnight with the device comfortably in place.
We use a variety of validating tools to appraise the progression of individual patient symptom management, including snoring and can assess overall device therapy performance, often linking in with our medical colleagues for best management of an individual patient diagnosis of a variety of Sleep Disordered Breathing conditions.
