Is Apnea Guard®… becoming the New Normal to work with MDs?

“That’s fantastic! You can do that?” These were the words of my physician colleague when he learned that I could use the Apnea Guard trial appliance to tell AHEAD OF TIME whether a custom oral appliance would work for his patients. Now he is my number one referral for Oral Appliance Therapy!
The Apnea Guard has greatly improved, and changed the way I work with physicians. An evidence-based approach to medicine is the cornerstone of the clinical medical practice, and the Apnea Guard provides a way to interface with my medical colleagues on this level like never before. Thanks to the solid clinical evidence from our validation studies showing equivalency of the Apnea Guard to a custom appliance, the hurdles I used to encounter with my docs have begun to come down. In a short period of time I have gained their total trust now by proving OAT will work before ordering a custom appliance. Many docs who were skeptics about Oral Appliances before have now been convinced by the logic of “pre-qualifying” their patients for OAT! As you might guess, the Apnea Guard has become a bridge for me to physicians (and insurance carriers). Last year I made Apnea Guard an integral part of my MD outreach program.
I was asked recently asked what I believe are the strongest benefits of the Apnea Guard System. That’s easy. First and foremost, the Apnea Guard was built to be a trial oral appliance, and this is its biggest strength. Our original plans for AG included the hospital where it could be fitted to OSA patient emerging from general anesthesia – a time of heightened risk for those patients. That is why the Apnea Guard was designed to be fitted easily by any healthcare worker so that we could reach those patients at special risk. As soon as it came to market, we realized it added value by providing dentists with a precision immediate treatment AND accurate treatment planning. Precision in the sense that the dentist can find the correct position of the jaw for the most effective and rapid outcome possible, and that treatment can start now. Accurate in the sense that a responder to OAT can be identified immediately using simple tests like HST while wearing the Apnea Guard on night one: BTW: One more new opportunity to cement the DDS and MD relationship, and AG has done that for me.
What do I love the most about the Apnea Guard in my hands? First of all, it’s easy, and I’m done fitting it in about 10 minutes. I love that I can capture a precise and predictable bite and jaw position, and then transfer that proven position without hassle to the custom device in a simple lab process. I love that the Apnea Guard system, thanks to EZ Sleep In-Home Testing, is totally seamless to incorporate into your practice routines. And, since their program includes 2 nights of testing each time they study a patient at home, you’ll have blended data that is more reflective of true sleep patterns and best practices. All of their studies are interpreted by Board certified sleep docs so you get the real deal. In fact, if you use all of their DSM tools to identify, test and treat the OSA patient in your practice, it’s really hard to fail.
I love teaching my students how to use the Apnea Guard because I know it will mean success, whether they are new to DSM or more advanced, saving time, appointments spent on titration, and overhead dollars. It makes the apnea conversation with your patient easier, too. Because of a special offer from EZ Sleep, there’s very little to lose in offering a no-cost AG Trial to your patients. My final thought almost always returns to the awesome ability to help my most desperate patients feel better NOW. “Mrs. Jones, I think we can begin helping you with your apnea starting tonight,” and as I wait for the smile to happen.
For more information on incorporating an Apnea Guard trial appliance protocol to increase your MD referrals, case patient acceptance and treatment outcomes, please contact EZ Sleep In-Home Testing at ApneaGuard@EzSleepTest.com or RyanJ@EzSleepNetwork.com.