I Have Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Is SomnoGuard® My Answer?

The goal of sleep apnea treatment is to help you sleep better. But if you find it hard to get a good night’s rest with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy, then it’s time to look at other options.

SomnoGuard® is an oral appliance for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) that helps keep the airway open while sleeping. 

Our team of pulmonary and sleep medicine specialists at Respacare want nothing more than to help you sleep better. We offer many forms of therapy for sleep apnea, including SomnoGuard.

Learn more about the oral appliance and if it’s the solution to your breathing and sleeping problems.

About your sleep apnea

It’s scary to think that you stop breathing while you sleep. But that’s what happens when you have sleep apnea. 

In most cases, the breathing stops because the airway is obstructed, blocking the inflow of air. When you sleep, the muscles in your head and neck relax, causing the soft tissue to sag and compress the airway. People with this type of sleep apnea have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)..

Some people stop breathing while they sleep because of miscommunication between the brain and the breathing muscles. This is called central sleep apnea.

No matter what type of sleep apnea you have, a decrease in blood oxygen when you stop breathing triggers the brain to wake you up just enough to breathe. This happens several times an hour while you sleep, making it impossible to get quality sleep. 

When treating sleep apnea, our goal is to help you breathe better while you sleep, so you get the rest you need. CPAP is an effective treatment for sleep apnea, using air pressure to keep the airway open, and the one we use most often. But some people have a hard time sleeping with CPAP due to discomfort from the face mask or noise from the machine.

How SomnoGuard works

For our patients having a hard time tolerating CPAP, we may consider an oral appliance. SomnoGuard is the oral appliance we offer at our sleep center. It’s a mandibular advancement device that adjusts the lower part of the jaw, pushing it forward so the airway stays open. 

With SomnoGuard, we make the oral appliance using a mold of your mouth for a perfect fit. The oral appliance covers the upper and lower teeth comfortably. 

Is SomnoGuard right for you?

We only recommend SomnoGuard for people with OSA since it works by preventing the soft tissue from blocking the airway. We do a sleep study to determine what type of sleep apnea you have and what treatment is best for you. 

Since it’s the main treatment for sleep apnea, we may start with CPAP therapy. If you find CPAP uncomfortable and don’t have a dental problem or central sleep apnea, then SomnoGuard may be the answer you’re looking for.

Studies show that oral appliances are an effective treatment for OSA in people who don’t tolerate CPAP. 

We also encourage our sleep apnea patients to get to and stay at a healthy weight for better sleeping. We may also recommend changing sleep positions.

If you have OSA and want to know more about SomnoGuard, call us today at 732-356-9950 or request an appointment online. We can talk to you about your sleep apnea and help you decide if the oral appliance is the best choice for you.