Evaluation of Prefabricated Adjustable Thermoplastic Mandibular Advancement Devices for Obstructive Sleep Apnoea

Mandibular advancement devices (MAD) serve as an adjunct to the treatment of snoring as well as mild-moderate OSA. It is widely accepted that upper airway muscle activity decreases during sleep, leading to increased collapsibility of the pharyngeal tissues, mandibular opening and posterior displacement of the tongue. These changes result in narrowing of the oropharyngeal and hypopharyngeal airway (Hudgel 1992). Their primary action is to advance the mandible and tongue to increase the upper airway size. Recent systemic review on the effectiveness of MAD in treating OSA by Torres et al in the Laryngoscope showed that 16 out of 18 large scale studies showed significant improvement in Apnea-Hypopnea index (AHI).

There are a wide variety of MAD commercially available and they can be broadly divided into custom made vs prefabricated makes as well as titratable versus non-titratable types. It is shown that custom made, titratable fitted MADs are superior in efficacy as compared to their counterpart models. However, high cost, delayed waiting times and multiple clinic visits are required for patients to be fitted with custom MADs by a professional orthodontist. Newly developed direct to consumer thermoplastic MADs (MyTap) brings the benefit of mouldable bite and form "custom" fit with the option of titration to the user at a lower cost, technical ease of use and fit in the clinic setting.

Participants who are diagnosed with simple snoring or mild to moderate OSA are able to trial use thermoplastic MADs to have a sense of the level of comfort and effectiveness MAD can bring to improve their OSA, serving as a bridging device prior to committing to the use of custom made MAD.

The investigators aim to evaluate the effectiveness of the use of Prefabricated adjustable thermoplastic mandibular advancement devices(PAT-MADs)(MyTAP) in the treatment of OSA and its role for predicting treatment success, compliance and comfort in an Asian population.

Inclusion criteria

• 18years old and above
• English competency
• Formal diagnosis of mild-moderate OSA on PSG
• Ability to provide informed consent

Exclusion criteria

• diagnosed severe OSA
• evidence of central sleep apnea events
• dental conditions which preclude proper use of the MAD
• treatment with other devices (e.g. tongue retainers, PAP therapy)
• pregnancy
• known allergic reactions to the components of the study product were excluded from the trial.