Are sleep apnea oral appliances comfortable?

Video Overview

Hello, I am Doctor Mark Abramson. I am a dentist who practices in both Redwood City and Monterey California. With my practice limited to treating the special needs of patients with TMJ, oral facial pain and sleep apnea. I am board certified by the American Academy of Oral Facial Pain, the American Academy of Pain Management and the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine. I have been practicing for 35 years. Are sleep apnea oral appliances comfortable? Yes, they are comfortable. They are easier to use than CPAP, but they are a foreign object, and just like somebody who would not wear glasses as if they didn't need to, oral appliances are something we probably wouldn't wear if we didn't need to. But the interesting thing about the term "comfort" is that the brain is so focused on your breathing it is the primary thing for your brain to take the next breath. And if you can't take the next breath, this is so disturbing that when someone has successful treatment and has this oral appliance in their mouth, the brain can relax and we find that patients who get used to wearing this if they don't put it on, the brain will actually not let them go to sleep. So what I like to think of with this is that we wouldn't wear glasses if we didn't have to, they are not comfortable, but they do make us comfortable in that we don't have to strain to see anymore. So, a person who needs glasses to read would want to put it on and that's what we find with the oral appliances.