The goal of sleep apnea surgery is to correct the problem, not to use medical insurance because it pays well. All surgery for sleep apnea should be performed after exhausting non-surgical treatments even if they are not covered by insurance. Every surgical procedure has risks and it's possible for some patients to be worse off after their operation. General anaesthesia, for example, results in about 1 serious complication for every 1000 cases.

          Sleep apnea surgery should be aimed at moving the tongue forward if the problem is that the tongue is falling back in the throat. However, many patients have UPPP procedures done on their soft palates when the real problem is with the tongue. Removing the soft palate also allows food to go upwards into the nose making many patients uncomfortable. Additionally, surgical procedures are often not easily reversible and could require additional surgeries to correct if a problem results.

          Sleep apnea surgery can often be avoided after successful treatment with a sleep apnea appliance. There are a number of dental sleep apnea devices that are often successful with Obstructive Sleep Apnea. These treatments are reversible and if they don't work, the patient is not harmed. Reversible appliance therapy is usually less expensive and less involved than having an operation. Most patients tolerate wearing their dental device for sleep apnea much better than a CPAP machine and many medical insurance companies will help pay for these dental appliances.

          There are appropriate uses of sleep apnea surgery. It seems appropriate, however, that the sleep apnea doctor providing treatment with the dental device for sleep apnea be different from the proposed surgeon. Human beings are biased by their training and naturally do what they were trained to do. What they do is what they understand. Having different doctors involved with the same patient helps remove biases from care. Dr Padolsky, the senior dentist at the Atlanta Dental Group PC, treats this disorder and would be happy to help. If you would like to consult with this sleep apnea dentist, call 404-874-7428.