The Difference Between Two Oral Appliances in Treating Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Case Report

Received 9 December 2007; received in revised form 25 March 2008; accepted 1 April 2008.

Oral appliances are a range of devices that are designed to alter upper airway patency. The efficiency of these appliances for treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been rarely discussed. This case report describes two designs of mandibular repositioning appliances used to treat OSA. A 36-year-old man was diagnosed with mild OSA by his physician. A single-piece, soft oral appliance and a two-piece, acrylic appliance were used in this patient. Polysomnography was performed three times (baseline, and with the single-piece, and two-piece appliances). The apnea/hypopnea index was improved significantly with both appliances, but to a greater degree with the single-piece soft appliance. Our study concluded that oral appliances may assist in the management of OSA.

Key Words: obstructive sleep apnea , oral appliance therapy

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a Department of Dentistry, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

b Department of Neurology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

c Faculty of Dentistry, College of Dental Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

d Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Correspondence to: Dr Je-Kang Du, Department of Dentistry, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, 100 Shih-Chuan 1st Road, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan

PII: S0929-6646(10)60037-X

doi:10.1016/S0929-6646(10)60037-X

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