Snoring and sleep apnea can cause serious health problems. It is estimated that more than 90 million North Americans snore. Taking into account the snorer’s spouse and children, as many as 160 million people are negatively affected by snoring! And snoring doesn’t merely interrupt your sleep cycle. The struggle for breath can result in soaring blood pressure, which can damage the walls of the carotid arteries and increase the risk of stroke. At certain levels of severity, complete blockage of the airway space by the soft tissues and the tongue can occur. If this period of asphyxiation lasts longer than 10 seconds, it is called Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), a medical condition with serious long-term effects.
During sleep, muscles and soft tissues in the throat and mouth relax, shrinking the airway. This increases the velocity of airflow during breathing. As the velocity of required air is increased, soft tissues like the soft palate and uvula vibrate. The vibrations of these tissues result in “noisy breathing” or snoring. Surgical techniques used to remove respiration-impairing structures have shown only moderate success rates (20 to 40 percent). For the majority of snorers, however, the most affordable, noninvasive, comfortable and effective snoring solution remains a dentist-prescribed snore prevention device. Fischl and Associates recommends the TAP snoring appliance for many of their patients.
TAP Snoring Device
The TAP’s simple design and high compliance rate makes it the most effective device available to treat snoring and sleep apnea. The TAP is also the primary oral appliance replacement for the Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine and surgery. Today, the TAP brand is recognized as the market leader in oral appliances with over 300,000 sold worldwide. It also has the most independent peer reviewed studies published of any other oral appliance on the market. For more information about the TAP appliance, click here.
If you suffer from snoring or sleep apnea, please contact the team at Fischl Dental Associates for a consultation. (847) 448-1684