Hi everyone! 
Are you one of the millions of Americans who suspect that they are suffering from Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), but refuse to go to a sleep specialist because you are put off by the prospect of spending a night in an unfamiliar setting in a sleep lab, attached to a jumble of wires to find out? More than 40 million Americans are estimated to suffer from a sleep breathing disorder, and 20 million suffer from OSA. Despite the high prevalence, 93% of women and 82% of men with moderate to severe OSA remain undiagnosed according to the National Sleep Foundation site.
I am now offering patients ARESTM, the first FDA-approved wireless portable sleep test device for diagnosing Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) while sleeping at home in your own bed. The small size allows the device to be comfortably worn in all sleep positions. The test costs less that 10 percent of the typical sleep lab test.
Watermark Medical of West Palm Beach, Fla., markets the easy-to-wear home use device that revolutionizes sleep testing. I am one of the first dentists in the metropolitan Detroit area to offer ARES to patients. We are using home sleep testing (polysomnography, or PSG) as a screening device for patients who suspect they have sleep apnea but are not convinced enough to actually go to a sleep doctor for an overnight (hospital) sleep study. If the ARES does detect measureable apnea, then we typically will recommend that you go to a sleep specialist for a definitive diagnosis and treatment plan. We work closely with several excellent sleep specialists (MD’s) in the area and will arrange for you to be examined by them before initiating any treatment. Often that treatment will consist of an oral appliance which is worn at night to open your airway. After we fabricate your appliance, we will use the ARES home sleep test to confirm that your appliance is working properly and actually treating your apnea, and not just stopping your snoring. This is important because we want to be certain that the appliance treatment is effective before you return to the sleep specialist for your follow up examination and PSG.
The ARESTM is worn on your forehead and is usually only worn for one night but can acquire and store up to three nights of sleep data. It provides a detailed profile of your breathing during sleep in your own bedroom in your own bed. The device painlessly collects physiological data while you are asleep and integrates the data with clinical history and physical data to determine presence and severity of OSA. The sleep study data is sent to a national network of board-certified sleep medicine professionals, who interpret the sleep study and returns the report and your data to me electronically within a day.
In these challenging economic times, this is certainly an effective, low-cost alternative to the current sleep-testing solutions available. And FYI, I typically include the cost of this follow up testing in the fee for your oral appliance. I’m fairly certain I am one of the only dentists in southeastern Michigan to do this.
For more information about ARESTM and Watermark Medical go to www.watermarkmedical.com or e-mail at info@watermarkmedical. And for more information about sleep disordered breathing and dental treatment for sleep apnea please contact me at 248-356-8790 or visit my website at drmarklangberg.wpenginepowered.com
So until next time, be well!
Mark Langberg, DDS, MAGD