| 摘要 |
<p>A dentally retained intra-oral appliance (20) worn at night for treatment of snoring and obstructive sleep apnea. The appliance (20) maintains the patient's mandible (22) in an anterior, protruded position to prevent obstruction of the pharyngeal airway (14). The appliance (20) allows a limited degreee of lateral movement of the mandible (22) relative to the upper jaw in the protruded position to prevent aggravation of the patient's tempromandibular joint and associated muscles and ligaments. The appliance (20) preferably consists of an upper bite block (28) conforming to the patient's maxillary dentition (30), a lower bite block (32) conforming to the patient's mandibular dentition (34), and a connecting assembly (40) secured to an anterior region of the upper and lower bite blocks (28, 32) for adjustably coupling the upper and lower bite blocks (28, 32) together.</p> |
