A Better Night's Sleep by Design: Advanced Mouthpieces for Sleep Disorders

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), machines have been the gold standard for treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. But many patients either can't or won't fully comply with the treatment. Because treatment of any kind-even treatment considered inferior to CPAP-is considered better than no treatment at all, specialists have been working to develop oral appliances and other novel devices to open up narrowed airways without forcing pressurized air into patients. Among the new treatments are mandibular advancement devices (MADs), palatal extenders to deliver "airway orthodontics," tongue stabilizers, surgical treatments to reduce sino-nasal obstructions, an alerting earpiece that prompts sleepers onto their sides, a neurostimulation retainer to move the tongue forward, and an oral device designed to restructure the airway.