Treatment for snoring

Snoring Treatment with a Mandibular Advancement Splint

Sno­ring is often cau­sed by a nar­ro­wing of the upper air­way during sleep. As the mus­cles in the throat
relax, the lower jaw and ton­gue may fall back­wards. Air pas­sing through the nar­ro­wed air­way cau­ses the
sur­roun­ding tis­sues to vibra­te, pro­du­cing the cha­rac­te­ristic sound of snoring. 

Regu­lar sno­ring can dis­turb your part­ner’s sleep and may also be a sign of a sleep-rela­ted breathing
dis­or­der. If breathing also repea­ted­ly stops during sleep, this may indi­ca­te obs­truc­ti­ve sleep apnoea. This
con­di­ti­on can signi­fi­cant­ly affect sleep qua­li­ty and lead to day­ti­me slee­pi­ness, dif­fi­cul­ty con­cen­t­ra­ting and
other health problems. 

A cus­tom-made sno­ring splint, also known as a man­di­bu­lar advance­ment splint, may help keep the air­way
open during sleep and redu­ce snoring.

Snoring Treatment with a Mandibular Advancement Splint

How does a mandibular advancement splint work?

The appli­ance con­sists of two con­nec­ted, cus­tom-made pla­s­tic splints that fit over the upper and lower
tee­th. It holds the lower jaw in a slight­ly for­ward posi­ti­on during sleep. 

This also holds the ton­gue and sur­roun­ding soft tis­sues fur­ther for­ward, widening the air­way at the back of
the throat. Air can flow more easi­ly, which may signi­fi­cant­ly redu­ce sno­ring. In sui­ta­ble pati­ents, the
appli­ance may also help redu­ce epi­so­des in which breathing stops during sleep. 

When might a mandibular advancement splint be appropriate?

Tre­at­ment with a man­di­bu­lar advance­ment splint may be con­side­red in the fol­lo­wing cases:

  • Regu­lar or loud snoring
  • Mild to mode­ra­te obs­truc­ti­ve sleep apnoea
  • Unre­fres­hing sleep and pro­no­un­ced day­ti­me sleepiness
  • Dif­fi­cul­ty tole­ra­ting a CPAP mask in pati­ents with dia­gno­sed sleep apnoea

As sno­ring can have dif­fe­rent cau­ses, a medi­cal assess­ment is important befo­re tre­at­ment. In par­ti­cu­lar, if
sleep apnoea is suspec­ted, an assess­ment at a sleep labo­ra­to­ry should be car­ri­ed out first. 

What does treatment involve?

Befo­re making the appli­ance, we exami­ne your tee­th, gums and jaw joints to deter­mi­ne whe­ther you are
sui­ta­ble for tre­at­ment with a man­di­bu­lar advance­ment splint.

We then take impres­si­ons or digi­tal scans of your upper and lower jaws. The­se are used to crea­te an
appli­ance that is indi­vi­du­al­ly fit­ted to you.