Dental Sleep Medicine Insider February 2016 | Page 7

CLINICAL PERSPECTIVES ON

4TH GENERATION
ORAL APPLIANCES

MARK T. MURPHY, DDS

Dr. Murphy owns
funktionaltracker.com,
is Lead Faculty at MicroDental,
Adjunct Faculty at UDMDS
and a regular presenter
at Pankey Institute.

BY DR. MARK MURPHY

made my first generation
I“crude”
cold cured OSA

appliance after teaching
occlusion at Pankey with
Dr. Keith Thornton over
20 years ago. The second
generation of twin block
acrylics was far more
presentable yet still “static”.
More recently, the broad
palette of third generation
or “titratable” solutions
offered greater control
and predictability. They
certainly had quirks and
maintenance issues but
they opened airways and
were mostly acceptable.
Now, the next generation
is here.
“Optimized” CAD CAM
design and manufacture
is disrupting the OAT
7

marketplace.
Leading
the transformation into
this fourth generation is
the MicrO2 Sleep Device.
I spoke with three of
North America’s top DSM
providers to see how this
next generation is changing
how they practice.
Dr. David Carlton said,
“There
are
several
important benefits of
the new generation of
appliances. The increased
density and lack of porosity
give
them
superior
strength, durability and
allow for better hygiene.”
The superior strength also
allows them to be thinner
with less bulk and no
lingual coverage. “This
was a huge deal for my

patients” noted Dr. Nikola
Vranjes. “I had been a
prolific user of a different
appliance for my patients
but they find this one
more comfortable. I’ve
found the “Optimized” CAD
CAM manufacturing to be
extremely accurate so they
drop right in. I’ve only had
to adjust one appliance
for fit, out of the last 50
MicrO2s I’ve inserted.”
Both Dr. Vranjes and Dr.
Steve Carstensen work
on specific protocols with
manufacturers in the OAT
market.
They find the
accuracy and repeatability
important. “We provide
feedback that often results
in detailed modifications.
Using our Trios Scanner and
a digital bite registration