Trouble with oral appliance- help!

I was told to put this on a “trouble with sleep appliance” thread but I can’t find one. Please excuse me since I have posted this twice- sorry! Hi! I have received the micro 02 appliance just recently. It is starting off advancing very little so I know the problem is not that it is extended too far. My question is, I wake up with no soreness and actually feel pretty good. Throughout the day my jaw soreness gets worse and worse. Until I get headaches. It’s almost as if my jaw doesn’t really know “where to land“ if that makes sense. I find my jaw protruding forward to the exact position of appliance when it is not in! I use a jaw repositioner in the morning. Of course, I have only used it for 2 nights. I dread wearing it again. I do have TMJ problems and have worn a nightguatd at night to control clenching/grinding, so wearing something at night doesn’t bother me. But the progressive muscle tension through the day does! Help! Will it go away as muscles lengthen?

Hi Again Adgrey. I pushed the thread, "Problems Your Having With Dental Appliances" to the top of the Forum, but noticed that the dentist did not answer the last post, posted 6 days ago and I don't know if it is active or not or if the dentist went on vacation. I read through some of the posts from patients and answers from the dentist and, so far, I'm not impressed.

I assume that you have your own dentist who prescribed this device to you. What does he/she say about all this?

Your muscles are not going to lengthen because you are wearing the appliance only at night. The repositioner helps to slowly put your jaw back where it was before it was stretched by last nights' therapy. The back and forth action is putting horrific strain on your TMjoints. Your TMJ problem is kicking back in and is giving you your muscle pain. Your jaw and your brain are currently in disarray and that is why your jaw doesn't know "where to land". The pain will not go away until you either (1) stop wearing the micro 02 appliance altogether or (2) do #1 and find a qualified dentist who specializes in TMJ disorders. The pain is awful, I know. I had pain so bad that I was unable to eat. This turned into a rather poor, but effective weight loss plan. Not recommended.

Do you have obstructive sleep apea? Have you had a sleep test? Have you ever tried CPAP? Was your dental appliance prescribed just for snoring? Dentists, any dentist, may not diagnose sleep apnea. You need a medical doctor for that and preferrably, one who specializes in sleep medicine. My insurance provides sleep specialists only as a part of second tier treatment...in other words...after sleep apnea has been diagnosed by a pulmonologist M.D. via a sleep test (run at home) and apneas and/or symptoms persist after CPAP treatment. At that point, they offer a lab-run sleep test, which a sleep specialist interpretes who usually recommends further treatment with one of the CPAP relatives.

So...if your dentist diagnosed you with sleep apnea on the basis of your snoring, he/she/ was entirely out of his/her realm and you would be much better off ditching your appliance and having your GP recommend a sleep test. A responsible dentist who specializes in sleep disordered breathing would refer you back to your GP with a note recommending a sleep test.

I hope this helps you. I hope you are free of your pain quickly. Take care.