OA Therapy for Mouth-breathers Who Snore

Breathing is one of the body's vital functions that occur under normal conditions using the nose. When humans breathe primarily through the mouth instead of the nose, this is referred to as mouth breathing. Snoring and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) occur frequently in mouth breathers. Mouth breathing impairs oral health, reduces quantity and quality of saliva, and increases dry mouth, risk of developing dental caries, gingival inflammation, bad breath and dry lips. Serious health conditions associated with an obstructed upper airway in those who snore include hypertension, cardiovascular disease and mild cognitive impairment. Oral appliances (OAs) that bring the lower jaw (mandible) forward have been shown to be highly effective in reducing snoring and interruptions in breathing (respiratory events) that occur in those who snore and/or have OSA. The myTAP™ OA (AMI, Dallas, TX) includes an optional mouth shield (MS) that is anticipated to promote nasal breathing. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of oral appliance plus mouth shield therapy on sleep cardio-respiratory dynamics (breathing and heart activity) and their effect on improving OSA and oral health, especially of the periodontal tissues, in confirmed mouth breathers who snore and/or have OSA. As many as 70 adults at least 18 years old will be recruited to participate. All participants will wear the OA during sleep for 8 weeks (Phase 1). Half of the participants will be randomly assigned to wear the OA only for the first 4 weeks; all will wear both the OA and MS for the last 4 weeks. Participants will wear an easy-to-use home sleep recording system (NOX T3) for 2 nights at the start of the study and again at 4 weeks and 8 weeks. Based on the investigators' experience, some participants will not have achieved maximal benefit from the OA at 8 weeks, and will require addition adjustment. These participants will enter a second phase of the study where they will have 1 or more sleep studies d