10/05/06
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a mouthpiece invented by Bryan Keropian, DDS, a Los Angeles-area dentist, that may conquer snoring and sleep disorders and offer relief to 90 million Americans who snore, as well as an estimated 40 million whose snoring is a symptom of potentially life-threatening sleep apnea.
The secret of the "Full Breath" Sleep Solution is its unique design, which reduces the obstruction of the individual’s air passage, providing an effective alternative to surgery and a solution for people who have been prescribed the Continuous Positive Air Pressure (CPAP) machine but find it too unpleasant to use. Less than half the size of traditional dental devices, the "Full Breath" Sleep Solution resembles an orthodontic retainer made of a soft plastic with a bar that runs across the back over the tongue to restrain the tongue from falling backwards to block the airway.
"Sleeping with the conventional mouthpieces designed to treat snoring and sleep disorders feels like sleeping with an orange in one’s mouth," says Keropian. "For many it is almost impossible to fall asleep, and those devices also fail to keep the tongue sufficiently out of the way of the patient’s air passage. With the Full Breath mouthpiece, patients can close their mouths comfortably as well as maintain a clear path for oxygen to get through."
Each mouthpiece is fabricated from a custom impression of the patient’s mouth, as well as measurements created with a special computer called a pharyngometer that maps the dimensions of the upper respiratory airway through acoustic signals.
For more information, visit www.cpapalternative.com.
