Does the oral device Noiselezz prevent sleep apnoea?

Abstract

Both snoring and apnoea are caused by the collapse of soft tissue in the upper airways during sleep. Increasing the cross-sectional area of the airways in these segments by moving the mandible and/or the tongue forward stabilizes the upper airways in obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) patients. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of Noiselezz, which is an oral appliance of the mandibular advancing type, designed for easy use. Twenty-one patients, all men (aged 50.6 &#45 10.4, body mass index 26.5 &#45 3.3) were included in the study. Polysomnography (PSG) was performed before the patients started using Noiselezz. After a period of 2 weeks accustomizing to the oral device, the patients had another PSG performed with Noiselezz inserted. We found no significant differences in total sleep time, percentage of time spent snoring, duration of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, slow-wave sleep, inter-sleep wake and sleep efficiency, apnoea/hypopnoea index (AHI) or lowest measured oxygen saturation after apnoea (minSaO 2 ). No significant differences were found in the localization of obstructions or intrathoracal inspiratory pressure with and without the use of the Noiselezz oral device. Three patients (14%) reported satisfaction with treatment by the oral device. All three continued to use Noiselezz as treatment. The rest of the patients (86%) either did not tolerate the device at all or tried it for a period and then requested alternative treatment ( n =12). Most patients found the oral device –Noiselezz’ inconvenient to use, and our results show that the device has little or no effect on snoring and sleep apnoea.