Dental Appliance Treats Snoring & Sleep Apnea

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Snoring, and its medical cousin sleep apnea, can make sleeping difficult. The typical treatment is a mask which forces air into the mouth while sleeping but this can be both annoying and expensive. However, a dentist from Frederick Maryland by the name of Dr. Richard Rogers, has created a dental appliance that changes the position of the jaw and could make sleep more comfortable as well is giving sufferers of snoring and sleep apnea a new way to treat their condition.

The dental appliance is named Snoreguard and is similar to that of an orthodontic retainer. Dr. Rogers said the device works in about two-thirds of people with sleep apnea, and also works for many who have heavy snoring. The dental appliance costs about $1500 while the price for the machine used by sleep apnea patients -- called a CPAP -- can cost up to $5000.

The dental appliance has actually been around for more than a decade, but Rogers said it's still not well-known. Bruce Zembower of Walkersville Maryland, is a dental patient of Dr. Rogers who mentioned to him that he had sleep apnea and used a CPAP.

"My problem with the machine was the mask would leak and that would wake me up," Zembower said. "I was talking to my dentist and he said, 'Why don't we try it?'" Zembower got his in January. "The insurance company asked for a lot of information, but they paid for it after they asked questions," he said.

Dr. Rogers is a member of the Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, which promotes the research and treatment of sleep-related breathing disorders and has been prescribing the dental device for 10 years. "It's taken a while to get the medical side to support this," he said. "Initially, I wasn't a believer". If cared for properly, they will last at least 10-15 years. They are stored in a case similar to one that holds a retainer or dentures and should be cleaned regularly.