Oral appliances are dental devices used to treat snoring and sleep apnea.  They are worn in the mouth while sleeping and work by pulling the jaw forward.  These devices can be quite effective in treating snoring and mild sleep apnea.  As such, they are enthusiastically advocated by dentists.  Unfortunately, because many patients find sleeping with them uncomfortable, many patients are unwilling to tolerate them.  And for patients who do regularly use an oral appliance, shifting of the teeth or jaw-joint pain are possible side effects.  Because of these limitations, and because, in  our experience, what patients truly desire are effective solutions that don’t require the regular use of unpleasant devices, we don’t typically recommend the use of oral appliances as “first line” therapy.  Instead, we reserve their use for patients who cannot be adequately treated with minimally invasive procedures, or for those patients who choose an oral appliance (despite their limitations) in favor of the lower treatment cost.