Objective evaluation of tongue base snoring after the use of an oral appliance: a prospective case series

Oral appliances have become increasingly popular for treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea especially for patients who are not able to tolerate continuous positive airway pressure devices. For simple snoring, oral appliances have become one of the treatments of choice despite a relative lack of scientific evidence of their efficiency. Objectives: This study was designed to objectively evaluate the clinical effectiveness of oral appliance in the treatment of simple snoring. Design: Prospective case series. Participants: Fifteen patients with confirmed simple tongue base snoring had pre- and post-oral appliance objective assessment of their snoring loudness and duration at home. Main outcome measures: The Snore Index was calculated as the number of snores per hour slept. Patients bed partners were asked to rate the snoring severity on a Spouse Dissatisfaction Scale. Results: Overall there was no significant difference in the Snore Index in the pre- and post-oral appliance recordings. Subjectively, there was a statistically significant decrease in the Spouse Dissatisfaction Scale following the use of oral appliance. Conclusion: Tongue base snorers had no significant reduction in their snoring with the oral appliances. There is a subjective benefit which may be due to the placebo effect.