Glidewell Dental has released a new mandibular advancement device, the Oasys Hinge Appliance. This oral sleep appliance is Medicare and PDAC (Pricing, Data Analysis and Coding) cleared under code E0486 to treat patients with mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

“Snoring is a warning sign that should not be ignored,” says Randy Clare, director of brand and product management at Glidewell Dental, in a release. “An estimated 50% of US adults snore and 30 percent of people are habitual snorers. In addition, adults over the age of 65 are at an increased risk of obstructive sleep apnea, which can be very serious if left untreated. Two common symptoms of OSA include loud, chronic snoring and daytime sleepiness.”

The Oasys Hinge Appliance is designed to gently shift the lower jaw forward during sleep, which activates the airway muscles and ligaments to prevent the airway from collapsing. The device is custom-made for each patient. It’s micro-adjustable (0.25 mm increments), with up to 10 mm of advancement based on the patient’s needs. The telescope-style hinge allows for natural jaw movement and can be adjusted chairside or at home. Patients with Medicare insurance qualify for reimbursement of their oral appliance, making it easy and affordable to get treated.

“Oral appliance therapy is a simple and effective method for achieving a more restful night’s sleep, resulting in renewed energy during the day,” says Clare. “As dentists welcome more integrative solutions for treating patients, the Oasys Hinge Appliance will become the go-to sleep device to prevent snoring and obstructive sleep apnea.”

Women with severe sleep apnea appear to be at an elevated risk of getting cancer, a study shows. No causal relationship is demonstrated, but the link between nocturnal hypoxia in women and higher cancer risk is still clear.

“It’s reasonable to assume that sleep apnea is a risk factor for cancer, or that both conditions have common risk factors, such as overweight. On the other hand, it is less likely that cancer leads to sleep apnea,” says Ludger Grote, adjunct professor and chief physician in sleep medicine, and the last author of the current study, in a release.

The research, published in the European Respiratory Journal, is based on analyses of registry data, collected in the European database ESADA, on a total of some 20,000 adult patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). About 2% of them also had a cancer diagnosis.

As expected, advanced age was associated with elevated cancer risk, but adjusting the data for age, gender, body mass index (BMI), smoking, and alcohol consumption nevertheless showed a possible link between intermittent hypoxia at night and higher cancer prevalence. The connection applied mainly to women and was weaker in men.

“Our results indicate a cancer risk that’s elevated two- to three-fold among women with pronounced sleep apnea. It’s impossible to say for sure what causes underlie the association between sleep apnea and cancer, but the indication means we need to study it in more depth,” says Grote, who is also a senior consultant and head of medicine at the Department of Sleep Medicine at Sahlgrenska University Hospital.

“The condition of sleep apnea is well known to the general public and associated with snoring, daytime fatigue, and elevated risk of cardiovascular disease, especially in men. Our research paves the way for a new view—that sleep apnea may possibly be connected with increased cancer risk, especially in women,” Grote says.

Previous studies have shown that, more often than others, people with sleep apnea have a cancer diagnosis in their medical history. Research in this area is expanding, while the gender aspects have hardly been explored.

“Above all, the focus has

There is no gold standard treatment for snoring—yet—but clinicians and patients have a growing menu of options that can cover most of its causes.

By C.A. Wolski

While occasional snoring is a nuisance, chronic snoring can have serious effects on sleep, relationships, and cardiac health—even if not tied to sleep apnea.

Research led by Per Stal, associate professor and research leader at the Department of Integrative Medical Biology at Sweden’s Umeå University, has identified that snoring causes significant long-term injuries, including developing swallowing dysfunction and making patients more susceptible to developing obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). His research notes that snorers and sleep apnea patients have neuromuscular injuries in the upper respiratory tract both at the structural and molecular levels. Recurrent snoring doesn’t allow for these damaged tissues to heal.¹

What’s more, preliminary research led by Adrian Curta, MD, a radiology resident at Munich University Hospital in Germany, has identified that women who snore are at much greater cardiac risk than men.² “It is unfortunately still unclear why women are more susceptible to developing cardiac-related symptoms,” Curta says. He suspects many of the study subjects with cardiac alterations may also have undiagnosed OSA.

Beyond long-term significant health issues, snoring can have immediate consequences as well.

“Sleep is a critical element of everyone’s health, and poor sleep can negatively impact many aspects of a person’s wellbeing,” says Mark Aloia, PhD, global lead for behavior change with Philips Healthcare and associate professor of medicine at National Jewish Health in Denver, Colo. “Snoring is a prevalent sleep condition that not only affects the afflicted person but also impacts their most personal relationships. According to research, more than 40% of the global population snores, with side effects including excessive tiredness for both snorers and their bed partners. Because of the scope of influence a snorer can have on the quality of sleep for those around them, snoring—not related to sleep apnea—is an important challenge that should be addressed on its own.”

While CPAP is commonly referred to as the gold standard for treating sleep apnea, there is no corresponding therapy for snoring. But