GBerger: It is important to understand the cause of your obstructive sleep apnea and why UAS is not indicated. Complete collapse of your palatal tissues and tongue obstruction are primarily caused by their position in the back of the throat causing blockage of your nasal and oral airway. Why does this occur is the primary question that is facing the medical and dental profession. The answer truly lies in the growth of our upper and lower jaws. If you look at the anthropologic research that studies ancient skulls, you will see that in past generations for the most part all of the human remains that the teeth are perfectly straight and the wisdom teeth are erupted. Additionally, they had very wide dental arches and wide palates. Why is this important? There jaws were significantly more developed anatomically than most humans today. There are many theories as the cause and effect of this epigenetic transformation, but the modernization of agriculture and softening of the diet especially in children from birth to 5 years old seems to play a role. Therefore, compared to ancient man, the upper and lower jaws are believed to be somewhere between 5-12mm underdeveloped in a forward growth direction in modern man and women. This causes a smaller oral and nasal cavity, thus putting the palate and tongue further back in the airway and causing the obstruction. All standard accepted treatments are geared at opening the airway, but unless you treat the underlying cause in most cases, all treatments are symptom relievers and not curing the underlying causes. Therefore, if your posterior pharyngeal airway space is significantly decreased and is causing the obstruction, then jaw advancement surgery may be indicated. We call this surgery CPAP Surgery, and has very proven and stable track record. The surgery involves a careful analysis of your airway, jaw position, dental health, and systemic health. The surgical results are immediate, and we are seeing very good results with our patients eliminating the need for CPAP machines and appliances.
Dr. Scotty Bolding Sleep Surgeon Integrativedentalspecialists.com
