Treatment with surgery or an oral appliance that adjusts the jaw is associated with improvements in obstructive sleep apnea, a condition caused by blocked upper airways in which patients periodically stop breathing during sleep, according to two reports in the May 2009 issue of Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery.
Sleep apnea is most commonly treated with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy. Individuals undergoing CPAP therapy wear a mask at night connected to a machine that increases air pressure in the throat, preventing the airway from closing.
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