Treating my Sleep Apnea
I have a confession to make: in the first few days of wearing my mRNA appliance, I did a really crap job of actually wearing the device for the recommended 16 hours/day. It wasn’t causing me much pain or discomfort or anything; I just wasn’t managing my time very well and making this my highest priority and this impacted my DNA Appliance compliance. (more…)
I tried for almost a week to suppress my gag reflex enough to cope with the pharyngeal extension originally on my mRNA Appliance. Although I made a lot of progress, I still wasn’t able to get the upper part installed. I was also concerned that even if I could get it in, and somehow fall asleep with it, I’d wake up in the middle of the night choking with the wire down my throat.
Yikes.
I didn’t want to wait any longer before I could start expanding so with my provider’s approval, I snipped it off with a pair of wire cutters yesterday so I could start using the appliance last night. It was surprisingly hard to cut the wire; it’s pretty strong.
I finally got my Vivos mRNA appliance on Wednesday. It took one day short of 10 weeks to get the device from the day I gave the go-ahead and paid for it. Here’s what mine looks like:
My mRNA Appliance. I sure hope it’s worth the money.
I was initially sceptical of Dr Singh’s claims that the Vivos DNA appliance uses mechano-transduction to trigger epigenetic processes which grow/remodel bone in the maxilla and mandible, leading to expanded jaws. After reviewing some science on bone remodelling, I believe it does involve epigenetics, but only to the degree that any biological growth process is directed by gene expression. (more…)
This is a list of resources I reviewed when I was researching surgical options for curing my obstructive sleep apnea. I focused on those that addressed my particular problem of a retrognathic maxilla and underdeveloped jaws, causing a lack of sufficient tongue space and creating an airway obstruction behind my lower jaw during sleep.
If you prefer an alternative that avoids surgery, see Maxillary Expansion For Obstructive Sleep Apnea Resource Bookmarks instead.
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This is a list of resources I reviewed when deciding whether Maxillomandibular Advancement (MMA) surgery was the best option for curing my obstructive sleep apnea. MMA surgery has very high cure rates for obstructive sleep apnea when combined with maxillary expansion such as SMARPE or DOME, but it’s very invasive and the risk of permanent nerve damage increases with age.
This is a list of online resources I found helpful when researching palate expansion options for potentially curing my obstructive sleep apnea. The number of links reflects the amount of research I did on each option; those I explored in more detail have their own pages and are compared in this article.
To understand how and why this treatment approach works, read what really causes obstructive sleep apnea. Most options here are non-surgical or require only minimal surgical assistance; for surgical options see Surgical Options For Obstructive Sleep Apnea Resource Bookmarks.
This is a list of resources I found helpful when evaluating whether the Anterior Growth Guidance Appliance (AGGA) was the best palate expansion option for expanding my airway and potentially curing my obstructive sleep apnea.
I rated AGGA high risk in my comparison of maxillary expansion options to treat my obstructive sleep apnea, and since then I’ve heard of many failed cases and a couple of lawsuits, so beware. (more…)
This is a list of resources I found helpful when evaluating whether Theodore Belfor’s Homeoblock palate expansion appliance was the best option for expanding my airway and potentially curing my obstructive sleep apnea. (more…)
This is a list of resources I found helpful when evaluating whether Won Moon’s Microimplant Assisted Rapid Palatal Expander (MARPE) named Maxillary Skeletal Expander (MSE) was the best option for expanding my airway and potentially curing my obstructive sleep apnea. (more…)