Patient Stories
Initially I had no plans to add sleep appliances to my practice. I looked at it as a small part of dentistry and I had preferred to put my time and energy into other more exciting areas of dentistry (eg. Lasers, Cerec, Orthodontics, Holistic). My views were soon to change. My wife complained of my snoring at night and my twitching in bed. I had a consultation with John Swieca, a Melbourne sleep specialist, and booked in for a sleep study. I decided this was a good opportunity to learn about sleep appliances so booked in for the SomnoMed course.
I attended a SomnoMed lecture day which entailed a number of different lecturers and a hands on session. The hands on session comprised of taking impressions, registrations with a George Gauge and deciding on appliance design. I gained certification to treat patients from the course, set up contacts with sleep physicians and had a mandibular advancement appliance designed for myself.
I received the sleep appliance prior to getting the results of my sleep study with Dr Swieca. Three nights prior to getting the results of my sleep study my wife had had enough and encouraged me to wear my mandibular advancement splint to bed. I wore the splint and she and I had the best night’s sleep in the time of our relationship. I got my sleep study results and found I was in the severe category with over 70 sleep apnoea events per hour along with night time tremor events. Since wearing the splint my daytime sharpness has improved radically- I used to feel like falling asleep in the afternoon (even on occasions during lecturing) and I felt like falling asleep when driving long distances. Now I feel sharp as a tack by comparison during the daytime. My night time tremor events have lessened. I assume these were from adrenaline surges to kick start my system during sleep apnoea events- I had previously had some treatment for adrenal fatigue.
I used to look at the SomnoMed dental posters with the slogan “My dentist saved my marriage” and think there is no way I would put that up on my clinic wall. Nowadays I am happy to place this poster on the wall. I am a living testimony to the success of the product and advocate for the treatment. It is surprising when you start asking patients and have the appropriate questions added to your medical history how many patients have issues, need to or have had sleep studies. In a time when the Dental Industry is struggling to stay busy, this is a golden area to become involved in where there is an abundance of work out there amongst our patients that are suffering with sleep apnoea.
~ Terry Rose, Melbourne VIC
It has been a long and painful journey in trying to enforce the guarantee with the firm we had previously used, and we had moved across to the SomnoMed product as an alternative to that, almost by chance and due to the other firm's repeated failings. However, the nice conclusion to all that, is that I have found the SomnoMed product to be far superior to the one I had before. Two things stand out:
1) The previous device did not work if I rolled on to my back, and so I was forced to sleep on my side.However, I like sleeping on my back, at least for part of the night! The SomnoMed device remains effective in preventing my snoring in all sleeping positions.
2) I find it much more comfortable to have a device which is comprised of two separate parts without a hinge, rather than the hinged devices I had used before. I think the design of the SomnoMed device, with the protruding lugs, is a very ingenious way of achieving the lower jaw support which is needed to prevent my snoring.
I should be grateful if you would pass on my thanks for a quality product to the design team at SomnoMed.
~ Jon, London
I was a snorer and was woken up several times a night by my wife to turn over, I also often fell asleep during the day and woke in the morning feeling tired. I had a somnomed appliance made 18 months ago and I wear it every night, I was concerned as I also gag a lot when brushing my teeth and thought I would not be able to cope with it in all night but how wrong I was! I now wear it every night and feel more rested when I wake and don’t fall asleep during the day.
~ Andy M., UK
My husband snored most nights but all I had to do was touch him and he rolled over and stopped which proved he wasn’t in a deep sleep, I researched the Somnomed and decided to try it not only for my sake but to enable him to have a restful night’s sleep. The first night I laid awake and even checked to see if he was still breathing and he was worn it every night since. We would defiantly recommend the Somnomed appliance to any snorer not only for their sake but for the partner too! It’s the best decision we have ever made!!
~ Alison M., UK
