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Alesia Stewart
either hinges or pistons. One piece
covers the top teeth and the other the
bottom. Calibration is achieved by
adjusting the hinges or pistons.
“It mechanically opens up the
airway,” Dr. Romack said, “by
slightly protruding and opening the
person’s bite — in other words,
by moving the jaw in a forward
direction. When it is properly
calibrated it actually compacts and
protrudes the tongue and opens up
the airway for the patient, enabling
them to breathe.”
She said this technique is not
so much a treatment as part of an
ongoing therapy, that once the device
has been properly adjusted a period
of “healing” begins. Over a six-month
period, the airway and associated
muscles tone — “get better, and
better and better.”
Some patients wear both a CPAP
mask and an oral appliance.
“It’s called ‘combo therapy,’ and
what we find is that since the oral
appliance manages to help open up
the airway, the pressure on the CPAP
can actually be turned down; and
that is one of the major complaints
MARCH 2016
PA R K E R C O U N T Y T O D AY
Family Owned and
Operated Since 1957
50
Greene’s Florist
701 N. Main ~ Weatherford, TX 76086
817-594-2733
patients have with the CPAP — the
pressure it has to be turned up to
literally open their airway,” Dr.
Romack explained.
She is encouraged by the
efficiency of these oral appliances.
“I’ve had wonderful success with
them,” she said. “I, for example, have
taken one particular patient who
was stopping breathing 38 times an
hour down to two!” According to
the doctor, documents and research
support her positive opinion of the
device, suggesting “the efficiency of
the oral appliance in someone who
has mild or moderate Obstructive
Sleep Apnea … is actually better than
the CPAP. And there is one reason it’s
better — because patients wear it.” Its
relative comfort and unobtrusiveness
make it a much more attractive
option for many patients.
Dr. Romack said a common
misconception is that the CPAP or
MRD is a “silver bullet” that tot ally
gets rid of their condition. But it’s
therapy, not a one-time treatment.
“A lot of patients, when you say
the word ‘treatment,’ they expect
to have 100 percent resolution of
their symptoms,” she said. “[People
think] it’s a treatment, you’re going
to get rid of it, it’s going to be great,
fabulous, I’m not going to have
to do anything else.’ But therapy
encompasses several different modes
of treatment. In other words, it could
[include] using an oral appliance; it
could [include] using a CPAP along
with it. There are exercises that we
actually tell patients to do. There is
positional therapy that we do with
patients. We go through discussions
of nasal patency — in other words:
how well can they breathe through
their nose. And we have different
‘tricks of the trade,’ I guess, or ways
of helping them open the nasal
passages. Because you actually
get 18 percent more oxygenation
breathing through the nose than you
ever get breathing through the mouth.
Therapy involves education ….”
So in the end, controlling OSA is
an ongoing endeavor. But modern
medical devices and a therapeutic
approach to treatment have helped
countless people enjoy a good night’s
sleep and, consequently, better
health.