60% OF PATIENTS ABANDON CPAP AND THEY SHOUT FROM THE ROOFTOPS THAT
"I HATE CPAP!"
THERE ARE MANY REASONS PEOPLE DO NOT TOLERATE CPAP. IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT THE SINGLE MOST SIGNIFICANT WAY TO PREDICT IF SOMEONE WILL BECOME A LONG TERM CPAP USER IS HOW THEY DO IN THEIR FIRST MONTH WITH CPAP.
OVER 95% OF PATIENTS OFFERED A CHOICE BETWEEN CPAP AND ORAL APPLIANCES CHOOSE THE ORAL APPLIANCE. MANY PHYSICIANS DO NOT GIVE THEIR PATIENTS THE CHOICE. THEY MAY NOT KNOW THE RESEARCH ON ORAL APPLIANCE EFFECTIVENESS WHICH CAN BE CORRECTED WITH EDUCATION.
FREQUENTLY, PHYSICIANS OR A FAMILY MEMBER OWNS A DME THAT SELL CPAP MACHINES AND SUPPLIES AND IT IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE FOR THEM TO EVEN CONSIDER RECOMMENDING AN ORAL APPLIANCE.
I FREQUENTLY HAVE PATIENTS WHO "LOVE THEIR CPAP!" AND ONLY WANT ORAL APPLIANCES TO TRAVEL. I HAVE NO HARD NUMBERS BUT I ESTIMATE BETWEEN 60 AND 80 % OF THOSE PATIENTS WHO "LOVE CPAP" MAKE A SWITCH TO ORAL APPLIANCES. THEY LOVED HOW CPAP MADE THEM FEEL, THEY DID NOT LOVE THE CPAP MACHINE, MASK OR HOSE