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Management of sleep apnoea with anti-snoring appliances

7 mins read Bruxism/sleep apnoea
Sleep apnoea can lead to feeling excessively tired during the day and poses a risk to health. The condition can be managed, however, with the use of intra-oral devices. The aim of this article, therefore, is to discuss sleep apnoea in more depth, look at the use of anti-snoring devices, and the role

For people with sleep apnoea (also known as obstructive sleep apnoea OSA), two types of interruptions to breathing can occur:

1. Apnoea—during an apnoea the muscles in the throat relax causing a total blockage of the airway. An apnoea usually lasts for around 10 seconds

2. Hypopnoea—a partial blockage of the airway which reduces the amount of oxygen that is taken in by 50%. As with an apnoea, hypopnoea also usually last for around 10 seconds. Sometimes called ‘obstructive sleep apnoea hypopnoea syndrome’.

The term ‘obstructive’ is used to distinguish OSA from other, more rare forms of sleep apnoea, such as central sleep apnoea, which is caused by the brain ‘forgetting’ to breathe during sleep.

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