Snoring is the resulting sound of obstructed airway movement during breathing while sleeping. Over half of snorers suffer from obstructive sleep apnoea.
Almost all treatments for snoring revolve around lessening the breathing discomfort by clearing the blockage in the air passage. Medications are usually not helpful in treating snoring symptoms, though they can help control some of the underlying causes such as nasal congestion and allergic reactions. Doctors and dentists therefore, often recommend lifestyle changes as a first line treatment to stop snoring. This is the reason snorers are advised to lose weight (to stop fat from pressing on the throat), stop smoking (smoking weakens and clogs the throat), avoid alcohol and sedative medications before bedtime (they relax the throat and tongue muscles, which in turn narrow the airways) and sleep on their side (to prevent the tongue from blocking the throat).
Your dentist can help by making a specially produced dental appliances called mandibular advancement splints, which advance the lower jaw slightly and thereby pull the tongue forward, are a common mode of treatment for snoring. Such appliances have been proven to be effective in reducing snoring and sleep apnoea in cases where the apnoea is mild to moderate. Mandibular advancement splints are often tolerated much better than CPAP machines. According the Dental Council of Ireland, only dentists who have particular training in sleep apnoea devices are allowed fit them.
So there you have it, if you reside with a snorer, a dental device called a mandibular Advancement Splint may be your savour, it's a bit of a passion killer, but hey, if it works, why not? Failing that, there are always earplugs....!