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Take sleep study WITH dental guard or WITHOUT?
#11
RE: Take sleep study WITH dental guard or WITHOUT?
Out of interest how the home test detect or diagnose central sleep apnea and how does it compare to sleep lab testing
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#12
RE: Take sleep study WITH dental guard or WITHOUT?
(07-17-2012, 11:20 PM)Tommy C Wrote: The mouthpiece I've been using is actually a pair of stacked $5 athletic mouth guards. When taped together staggered, they hold the jaw slightly forward.

How do you tape them together?
Sleepster

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#13
RE: Take sleep study WITH dental guard or WITHOUT?
(07-18-2012, 05:28 PM)zonk Wrote: Out of interest how the home test detect or diagnose central sleep apnea and how does it compare to sleep lab testing

Zonk,

I will ask the supplier how they specifically detect the CSA and report back. They did say CSA was evaluated in the test. If you check out 1800cpap on the web, they show the device. It's a ResMed Sleep Apnea Tester Plus. It uses a tube that looks like a pillow nose mask to sample breathing. They have a probe that goes around the index finger to sample pulse. There's a couple other hook ups too. Not anything as complex as a full sleep study though. Looking at the sample printouts, it appears to give a lot of info much like an S9 gives.

I guess it's a good start for $399.


Sleepster,

To construct the mouthpiece, I start with two identical athletic mouthpieces. I take one at a time and put each in boiling water and fit one to the top and then the other to the bottom set of teeth. I now have two fitted mouthpieces, one for the top and one for the bottom.

I put both formed mouthpieces into my mouth and pull the lower one out slightly to pull the jaw out maybe 3/8" or so. You can feel when it is about right.

Each mouthpiece has a 2" tab that sticks out and is normally used to secure the mouthpiece to a football helmet, etc.

With the mouthpieces in place, with the jaw positioned outward, take some black PVC electrical tape and tightly tape these two tabs together. This will hold the relative position of the two mouthpieces so that the bottom one stays positioned with some outward tension on the jaw. You may have to do this a few times to get it right.

Yes, it takes maybe a night to get used to, but I don't notice it at all anymore. For further safety, I taped on a small 6" cord to the tab that will keep me from swallowing it. However, I notice the commercial dental guards have no such precaution. If the mouthpiece is fitted well, it will be a tight fit to the teeth, especially with TWO mouthpieces.

The mouth will be slightly open with the two stacked mouthpieces. Air can flow thru the mouth easily. I sense no mouth muscle strain in the morning, though if someone suffers from TMJ or has the jaw pulled out too much, there can be problems.

It also prevents teeth grinding at night. I happen to have this problem, so two birds with one stone.

Every morning I wash the mouthpiece set out thoroughly with soap and warm water and let it set in a glass of water and alcohol all day until next use. I have had no mouth bacterial infections using this procedure.

Try some tests with it in place and out - by lying on your back and trying different neck positions to see if it has any effect. In my case I can feel a much clearer breathing pathway in certain neck positions.

In summary, if I didn't know what I've learned reading this site, I would have probably called the OSA at bay using just the mouthpiece. But because I fear I may have moderate to severe OSA, I will take the advice of the folks here and figure if the AHI is over 15 in the test, I will go with an S9 and see what happens.

Hope the description was clear enough.

Tom
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#14
RE: Take sleep study WITH dental guard or WITHOUT?
I've checked out and it seem there are two version :
ApneaLink which monitors respiration and blood oxygen saturation
ApneaLink Plus which adds respiratory effort (via the belt) to the mix.
Good luck with the test and hope it goes well for you
ApneaLink Plus - Features and Benefits
http://www.resmed.com/us/products/apneal...s&sec=true

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#15
RE: Take sleep study WITH dental guard or WITHOUT?
(07-18-2012, 11:28 PM)Tommy C Wrote: In summary, if I didn't know what I've learned reading this site, I would have probably called the OSA at bay using just the mouthpiece. But because I fear I may have moderate to severe OSA, I will take the advice of the folks here and figure if the AHI is over 15 in the test, I will go with an S9 and see what happens.

If it turns out that you do need to buy the S9, perhaps you can do your own little test. You could put it in CPAP mode at the lowest pressure possible (4 cm) and sleep with your mouthguard in place. If you have no obstructive apneas you'll know it's working.

No sense in worrying about that now. Just wait and see what the test reveals, and take it from there.

Quote:Hope the description was clear enough.

Yes. Thanks. I wear a nightguard for grinding. I may try this sometime.

Tom
[/quote]

Sleepster

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#16
RE: Take sleep study WITH dental guard or WITHOUT?
(07-19-2012, 06:31 PM)Sleepster Wrote: If it turns out that you do need to buy the S9, perhaps you can do your own little test. You could put it in CPAP mode at the lowest pressure possible (4 cm) and sleep with your mouthguard in place. If you have no obstructive apneas you'll know it's working.


Very good idea! Coffee
SuperSleeper
Apnea Board Administrator
www.ApneaBoard.com


INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.


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#17
RE: Take sleep study WITH dental guard or WITHOUT?
(07-19-2012, 06:45 PM)SuperSleeper Wrote:
(07-19-2012, 06:31 PM)Sleepster Wrote: If it turns out that you do need to buy the S9, perhaps you can do your own little test. You could put it in CPAP mode at the lowest pressure possible (4 cm) and sleep with your mouthguard in place. If you have no obstructive apneas you'll know it's working.


Very good idea! Coffee

Well, let me rephrase that. If the CPAP machine shows that you are having obstructive apneas at the lowest possible pressure setting, then you'll know the dental appliance is not working.
Sleepster

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#18
RE: Take sleep study WITH dental guard or WITHOUT?
If you take the test without, you're more likely to qualify for a machine. Once you get a good data capable machine, you can do more evaluation of how your dental device is working.
Get the free OSCAR CPAP software here.
Useful links.
Click here for information on the main alternative to CPAP.
If it's midnight and a DME tells you it's dark outside, go and check it yourself.
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#19
RE: Take sleep study WITH dental guard or WITHOUT?
Yes, I will try that dental guard test using the CPAP at lowest setting. Should be very interesting. Good ideas.

It's funny that over most of our lifetimes, we've had no idea what has gone on while we were sleeping. We spend 1/3 of our lives doing this critical procedure but have no idea how well we are doing.

To take a leap like this, having a full data report each day, is mind-blowing. As I told my doctor, sleep apnea will become the next "Lyme Disease" of tomorrow. At least in the northeast, Lyme is now getting recognized as a terrible problem - and people are starting to wake up about sleep apnea. In the future, everyone will monitor their sleep using standard monitoring devices built into the beds. Why not? Smile

I'm looking forward to fine tuning my sleep to feel even better. Just the small effort put into the mouthpiece and side sleeping has made a huge difference. I am scheduled for a heart echo stress test next week. My symptoms have disappeared to the point I think the test may be a waste of time. But I still want to see how much, if any, damage was done by years of neglecting my potential sleep apnea problem. In addition, the home sleep study test will be here next week, so shud be a big week of realizations. I'll keep you posted.

T
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#20
RE: Take sleep study WITH dental guard or WITHOUT?
(07-20-2012, 01:09 PM)Tommy C Wrote: ....I'm looking forward to fine tuning my sleep to feel even better. Just the small effort put into the mouthpiece and side sleeping has made a huge difference. I am scheduled for a heart echo stress test next week. My symptoms have disappeared to the point I think the test may be a waste of time. But I still want to see how much, if any, damage was done by years of neglecting my potential sleep apnea problem. In addition, the home sleep study test will be here next week, so shud be a big week of realizations. I'll keep you posted.

T

If you are feeling so good using the dental guard, why would you want to do the full sleep study or at least half the night, without it? I mean, why become a hosehead if you don't have to be one?

If I thought I could get rid of my machine by just sleeping on my side and wearing a dental guard, I would do it in a heartbeat. I would love to have a sleep study prove that I didn't need a machine.

Instead it sounds like you want to go ahead with the sleep study on your back and without the guard to prove you need a machine. Sure, you can get a machine by showing your worse case scenario, and then do your own testing with the machine and your dental guard afterwards. But after getting the machine, will you continue to use it, if your own tests with the guard show you don't still need it? I would doubt it.
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