Oral Appliances for the Treatment of Snoring and Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Snoring and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are common disorder and related to narrowing of the upper airways. The treatment of OSA depends upon severity of symptoms, magnitude of clinical complications and etiology of the upper airway obstruction. Many treatment met hods have been tried over years to teat snoring and obstructive sleep apnea. To date three approaches seem to be the most effective. They are nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP), surgical techniques and use of intra oral appliances. A conservative estimate, based on information from each dental laboratories listed, suggests that at least 1200 appliances have been fabricated for the treatment of snoring and OSA. The main objective of this review is to review all appliances approved by FDA.