oral appliances - not sure if I need one ALSO ear pain with

dwilson · Joined: 27 Mar 2007 Posts: 3

Hi - I'm new to this group and to cpap.

For a month I've struggled with cpap, but the pressure hurts my ears, even at low pressure.

My sleep doctor said that I may need an appliance. Some general questions comes to mind:

Will insurance (Medicare) pay for it?

Can you swallow while wearing one?

Has anyone else tried the non-prescription ones?

I'lll follow up on any info you can send my way.

Thank you for your help - regards, Dee

Rachel E · Joined: 19 Mar 2003 Posts: 504

I can answer one of the questions........you can surely swallow with it. In fact, and don't try this at home foks, I am a professional, I often swallow ibuprofen at night with the appliance in my mouth.
I am going to start the proceedings to get my insurance pay for my next TAP so I am not sure about that question. I think the answer is maybe and if not, fight for it.

I have not tried the over the counter ones but I may buy one soon, for my son.

Hope some of this helps. If an appliance is right for you, it is wonderful. I struggled with cpap/apap for years. If you don't believe me, you can search years of questions on this site posted by me.

When the TAP is in and adjusted, all is well for me. ( and of course, I also avoid inflammatory foods),No more need for mega questions. I try to pop in on this forum just to encourage others that, yes, some people have had great success with dental appliances for sleep.

If you want some professional answers, search for messages on this forum from Ira Shapira, a sleep dentist and an expert on the topic.

Thanks,
Hope you find a way to
Sleep Well
Rae

dwilson · Joined: 27 Mar 2007 Posts: 3

Rae - thank you for writing.

I'm gathering that you have stopped using cpap/apap and have gone to oral appliance only? Is that called tpap?

I am definitely going to check it out, because my ears can't take the cpap pressure, even when it's very low.

I'll see what the nsurance will payf or. I have medicare and a medigap and they [seem to] be paying for the cpap items.

Thanks again, Dee

Limeygurl · Joined: 28 Mar 2007 Posts: 17

Dee,

If you follow the link below, it will take you to a web site that gives an overview of quite a few of the oral appliances available, including the TAP (Thornton's Adjustable Positioner) and the SUAD.

http://quietsleep.com/oralappliancetherapy/oralappliance_descrip.cfm

Like Rae, I have had a TAP device for 3 years now and have found it to work for me much better than the CPAP did. I just could not get used to the CPAP. However, I am lucky in that I have very mild sleep apnea and more of the upper airway resistance syndrome (UARS) with more hypopneas than actual obstructive events.

My insurance paid about two-thirds of the cost of my first device. However, they refused to pay for a remold of the lower half which had to be done following some major dental work. It is hard to say for sure whether insurance will cover the cost of these devices. It seems to be rather hit and miss. I know that the tech doing the remold made a comment to the fact that Medicare had so far refused to give approval for them to make the devices, but whether this is the device or just their office I'm not sure.

If you put in a search for TAP or oral device on the Dental Forum you should come up with quite a bit of info.

Good luck,

Limeygurl

snork1 · Joined: 16 Dec 2003 Posts: 1415 Location: Kirkland, WA

ishapira · Posted: April 07 2007 Post subject:

Rachel
Thanks for the vote of confidence.

Please check ihatecpap.com for more info. For specific questions you can get my personal email at ilshapira@yahoo.com. While I will try to help with questions this is not meant as definitive medical advice and you should follow up with your physician and dentist.

Dr Ira L Shapira