Level 17, 111 Elizabeth Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Level 17, 111 Elizabeth Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Airway & Sleep · Oral Appliance Therapy
Snoring is the sound of air forcing its way past relaxed tongue and throat tissues in a narrowed airway. It is extremely common, it degrades the sleep of two people, and it sits on a spectrum that can run through to obstructive sleep apnoea, which is why we screen before we treat. For confirmed simple snoring, a custom-made oral appliance that holds the lower jaw gently forward is the most reliable dental treatment available, and considerably more comfortable than the chemist-shop version suggests.
During sleep the tongue, attached to the lower jaw, relaxes backward, and the soft tissues of the throat slacken. If the airway is generous, air still moves silently. If it is narrowed, by jaw position, tongue volume, weight around the neck, nasal blockage forcing mouth breathing, alcohol before bed or simple anatomy, the tissues vibrate as air squeezes past. That vibration is the snore. The same narrowing that makes noise can, in some people, progress to partial or complete obstruction, which is why 'harmless snoring' is a conclusion we reach after screening, not an assumption we start with.
Before treating snoring we ask the OSA questions: pauses or gasps reported by a partner, unrefreshing sleep, daytime sleepiness, night-time bathroom trips. Where the answers raise concern, a sleep physician and a sleep study come first; treating the soundtrack while missing the apnoea would be a disservice. Where screening is clear, we treat the snoring itself.
Step 1
alcohol timing, sleep position (back sleeping worsens most snoring), weight where relevant, and nasal breathing, because a blocked nose drives the open mouth that destabilises the airway. Our Breathing Well page covers retraining.
Step 2
where the nose itself is the obstacle: allergies, deviated septum, chronic congestion belong with a GP or ENT before any appliance.
Step 3
fitted to your teeth, holding the jaw slightly forward, opening the space behind the tongue. Quiet is the usual result; partners notice on night one.
Step 4
small adjustments over the first weeks tune comfort and effect, then the appliance joins your normal recall cycle.
Boil-and-bite devices are bulky, poorly retained, and set the jaw position by guesswork, which is why most end up in a drawer within a month. A custom appliance is made from digital impressions with a deliberate, adjustable therapeutic position, anchors precisely on your teeth, and is reviewed by the people who fitted it. The comparison in comfort and adherence is not close, and adherence is the entire game: the only appliance that works is the one you wear.
"The consultation that starts with 'my wife sent me' is one of my favourites, because the outcome is usually two people sleeping properly again within a month. Snoring is one of the most fixable problems that walks through our door."
DR YIN YIN TEOH — PRINCIPAL DENTIST
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Yin Yin
Simple snoring is a noise problem with real quality-of-life costs. The danger question is whether it accompanies sleep apnoea, which is exactly what our screening and, where needed, a physician's sleep study establish before treatment.
For most confirmed snorers, from the first nights of wear, with fine-tuning over the following weeks.
Custom appliances are slim, tooth-borne and adjustable; most patients acclimatise within a week or two. This is where custom manufacture earns its cost.
Many funds rebate custom oral appliances under major dental depending on your cover; we provide item numbers and written quotes so you can check precisely.
Appliances of this kind are adult treatment. A snoring child needs an airway assessment, not an appliance; see Mouth Breathing in Children.
Quiet nights are closer than you think. Book a consultation at SHDC and we will screen, advise and, where appropriate, fit an appliance that actually gets worn.
Yin Yin
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Dr Yin Yin Teoh
Principal Dentist — Airway & Sleep, Oral Appliance Therapy
Dr Yin Yin Teoh leads the airway programme at Sydney Holistic Dental Centre, with a focus on snoring, sleep-disordered breathing and custom oral appliance therapy.
