MANDIBULAR ADVANCEMENT SPLINTS (MAS)

The splint will enhance your breathing when you sleep, reduce snoring and/or sleep apnoea.

What to Expect
In the first few weeks, you will find the splint very uncomfortable. Your lower jaw is held forward during the night and you will experiece aching of the jaw muscle in the first few hours of the morning. You will also feel as though your teeth do not fit together properly. These symptoms usually disappear by noon.

You will experience a lot of saliva and drooling in the first few weeks of wearing the splint. You may want to sleep with a hankerchief or towel on your pillowcase. Sometimes, you will wake up to find that you have unknowingly removed the splint during sleep.

The initial problems will gradually go away after a while. To make it easier for you to get used to the splint, put it on 1 to 2 hours before you go to sleep.

How to Maintain the Splint
Brush your splint every morning. You should soak your splint in tap water with a dissolved denture-cleaning tablet to remove stains and hard deposits (calculus) every day. Always clean and floss your teeth before putting on your splint to sleep.

An important Note: Please DO NOT USE HOT WATER for soaking or cleaning as doing this will damage the splint.

Adverse Effects
Your jaw-joints and your teeth support the forward position of your lower jaw. If you have had joint problems with clicking and pain before, these problems can return and your splint will have to be altered. If you have a new filling or crown made, alterations of the splint is necessary.

If you have gum disease, support for your teeth is not as strong and your teeth can shift. It is important to make regular visitis to your dentist in order to keep your gums healthy and to prevent cavities from developing in your teeth.

Long term wear of the splint may alter the way your teeth meet. The over jet and overbite of your front teeth will be reduced. There will be a mild increase of the lower face height.

The side effects are minor and outweigh the effects of the splint.

Positive Effects
In more cases, snoring will be reduced to an acceptable level or it will disappear. The number of apnoeas or cessations of breaths per hour will be reduced to a less harmful level.

The application may take several weeks to become effective, as the tissues of the airway may have been damaged from prolonged snoring. If you have daytime sleepiness, it takes a few weeks before you notice the difference and begin to feel good.

After you have used the splint for some time, you can sleep without it for 1 to 2 nights a week and the positive effects continue to stay with you.