One of the most attractive aspects of Vivos’ DNA appliance and its variants is that this sleep apnea treatment can potentially cure sleep apnea. That’s right, using this sleep apnea treatment means that you might be able to eliminate your sleep apnea entirely.
When Columbus sleep dentist Dr. Mike Firouzian started offering the DNA appliance, he was initially cautious. In theory, it could work, but we didn’t know how well it would work. There was neither good clinical evidence nor extensive patient experience to tell us how effective the DNA appliance might be in the real world.
Now, though, evidence is mounting that many people who use the DNA appliance might find their sleep apnea cured. While we should still be cautious, this information makes the DNA appliance seem an even better sleep apnea treatment option for Columbus patients looking for a long-term solution.
How the Vivos Appliances Work
The airway, jaw, and teeth all develop together. The forces that determine their size, shape, and configuration influence each other to create their final configuration.
As a result, people with a small or narrow jaw also tend to have a small or narrow airway. This airway is vulnerable to collapse or clogging. When the airway is blocked for whatever reason, whether it’s your tongue collapsing into the airway, the muscles of the throat relaxing, or just inflammation and mucus, it can cause obstructive sleep apnea.
Obstructive sleep apnea is when your air is being cut off by the tissues of your body. In other words, it’s as if your body is trying to strangle you. Obstructive sleep apnea treatments keep you breathing by helping to hold your airway open. CPAP does it by forcing air into your throat to inflate your airway like a balloon. Oral appliance therapy works by repositioning your jaw to help it hold your airway open.
What makes Vivos treatments different is that they recognize that the size and shape of the airway are not fixed when we become adults. Just as people are never too old for orthodontic treatment, they can still reshape the bones of the face. After all, a Columbus cosmetic dentist like Dr. Firouzian does it all the time with orthodontic approaches for adults like Invisalign. Therefore, it’s potentially possible to reshape the bones in a way that reshapes the airway, making it less susceptible to collapse.
That’s what the Vivos DNA appliance and its variants do. The appliance applies steady force to your teeth and jaws to encourage further development. This new development can lead to easier breathing and reduce the risk of airway collapse.
Is Vivos DNA Right for You?
How do you know if a small jaw or airway might be contributing to your sleep apnea? Some common signs include:
- Crooked teeth
- Crowded teeth
- Receding jaw
- Sunken midface
- TMJ symptoms
If you have these symptoms, it’s important to talk to a Columbus sleep dentist about a Vivos appliance. These don’t guarantee that the DNA appliance might be right for you. However, they do make it more likely that the treatment is a good choice and could provide a true sleep apnea cure. Before recommending Vivos DNA or a similar appliance, your sleep dentist will want to examine your teeth and jaws, then take imagery of your airway to see if the appliance might be able to open up your airway.
Clinical Trial Results Show High Cure Rates
The theory of the Vivos DNA appliance is all well and good, but for a long time, we weren’t sure just how well real-world data would bear out the theory. Now we have good clinical data to show that, yes, in fact, we can actually cure many people of sleep apnea with the Vivos appliances.
In a study reported in 2021, Vivos showed that more than a quarter of people treated with oral appliance therapy were fully cured of their sleep apnea.
In this study, 74 adult patients used the DNA appliance for 12-24 months. To verify the success of the treatment, patients took a sleep test without their oral appliance. The results showed that 28% of patients saw their apnea-hypopnea index (AHI, a measure of sleep apnea severity) dropped below 5 hypopnea or apnea events per hour. Since sleep apnea is commonly defined as having an AHI of 5 or more, this showed they were cured.
In addition, the clinical trial showed that most patients saw improvement in their sleep apnea, even if they didn’t experience a complete cure. Of those treated, 82% saw improvement in their AHI scores, with a full 64% seeing their sleep apnea improve by a category (such as from moderate to mild). It took an average of 14 months to see this improvement.
Even more exciting, Vivos revealed that its real-world monitoring of DNA appliance patients showed that the cure rate was actually about 1 in 3–data they hope to publish soon.
Effective Sleep Apnea Treatment in Columbus
If you are looking for effective sleep apnea treatment in Columbus, let sleep dentist Dr. Mike Firouzian help. He will recommend an appropriate sleep treatment, whether the Vivos DNA appliance or a different approach that might work better for you.
Please call (614) 683-4640 or use our online form to request an appointment at Firouzian Dentistry, offering sleep apnea treatment from the Crossroads neighborhood of Columbus.
