Oral appliance for treatment of snoring and sleep apnea

Abstract

An oral appliance (1) is provided for the treatment of snoring and obstructive sleep apnea. The oral appliance (1) includes an upper tray (10) adaptable to conform to a user's maxillary dentition and a plurality of lower trays (40), each of the lower trays (40) adaptable to conform to the user's mandibular dentition. At least some of the lower trays (40) are structured to engage the upper tray (10), each of the lower trays (40) are structured to impart a different fixed amount of mandibular advancement.

Description

PRIORITY CLAIM[0001]This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) from provisional U.S. patent application No. 60 / 813,405 filed Jun. 14, 2006 the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.TECHNICAL FIELD[0002]The present invention pertains to an oral appliance and more particularly to an oral appliance for the treatment of snoring and sleep apnea.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Individuals suffering from sleep-related breathing disorders, such as excessive snoring and sleep apnea, have an increased risk of experiencing severe health problems. Studies have shown, for instance, that individuals suffering from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are more likely to have a stroke, heart failure, hypertension, and depression, among others. OSA is characterized by repetitive collapse of the upper airway during sleep. This yields episodes of reduced airflow, hypoxemia (reduced oxygen level in the blood), hypercapnia (elevated circulating carbon dioxide, CO2), and arousal ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0013]According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for effecting the patency of a user's airway comprises providing an oral appliance assembly comprising an upper tray adaptable to conform to a user's maxillary dentition and a plurality of lower trays each adaptable to conform to the user's mandibular dentition, wherein each of at least some of the lower trays is structured to couple with the upper tray to impart a different fixed amount of mandibular advancement, enabling a selection of at least one of the plurality of lower trays, and enabling coupling of the upper tray with a selected one of the lower trays to form an oral appliance having a desired amount of mandibular advancement.

[0017]According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for fitting an oral appliance comprises enabling an oral appliance tray to couple with a holding tray, the oral appliance tray having a moldable material and the holding tray having a handle, enabling the oral appliance tray to be submerged within a heating medium without submerging at least a portion of the handle, enabling removal of the oral appliance tray from the heating medium using the handle, enabling insertion of the oral appliance tray into a user's mouth using the handle, and enabling the user to make an impression of a portion of the user's dentition.

Problems solved by technology

Individuals suffering from sleep-related breathing disorders, such as excessive snoring and sleep apnea, have an increased risk of experiencing severe health problems.

A user, for example, may continue to suffer from a sleep-related breathing disorder if the forward mandibular advancement imparted by the oral appliance is inadequate (e.g., the soft tissue of the user's tongue and throat are not prevented from collapsing into the user's airway).

On the other hand, if the forward mandibular advancement imparted by the oral appliance is excessive, the user may experience unnecessary discomfort.

The discomfort may cause undesirable arousal from sleep and / or cause the user to stop wearing the oral appliance all together.

These and similar oral appliances, however, are expensive, complicated to manufacture, and have adjustment mechanisms are difficult to operate.

Additionally, oral appliances incorporating adjustment mechanisms tend to be bulky, thereby adversely impacting the user's comfort level.

Furthermore, known oral appliances are difficult to properly fit, do not allow sufficient vertical or horizontal movement of the jaw when worn, and are not flexible enough to allow a “one size fits all” application (e.g., the oral appliance may not be appropriate for both a user having a relatively small dental arch and a user having a relatively large dental arch).

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