Step One: Open the Airway
In order to get air into your lungs, you must have an open airway. The basic principle of airway management and opening the airway involves the lower jaw. As you pull your jaw forward, your airway will open. This principle is fundamental to the “jaw thrust” technique which is used for managing the airway in both anesthesia and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Every doctor, nurse, and most emergency personnel have been taught this technique.

SleepWell Solutions patients start therapy with a TAP oral appliance. This device holds the jaw in a forward position and prevents the airway from collapsing during sleep. In effect, the TAP replicates the jaw thrust maneuver used in anesthesia and CPR to manage the airway.

Ninety five percent of our patients are successfully treated and get relief from snoring with the TAP® alone. The TAP device alone also treats the majority of our sleep apnea patients.

Step Two: Add Breathing Assistance, if Necessary
If a patient needs more treatment than a TAP oral appliance alone, SleepWell Solutions offers TAP Combination Therapy of a TAP plus CPAP. Combination therapy provides the benefits of both mandibular advancement (a stabilized, open airway) and positive air pressure. Because the airway is stabilized in an open position with the TAP, the pressure from the CPAP machine does not have to be set as high as it does when the patient wears a CPAP alone.

The mask used for combination therapy is a custom CPAP mask built by SleepWell Solutions. The mask attaches directly to a post on the oral appliance, which eliminates the need for straps around the head.

Typically, only patients with the most severe cases of apnea need combination therapy.

Step Three: Follow-Up Regularly
Regular follow-up is essential to TAP Therapy. Because sleep disordered breathing is a chronic condition and can get worse over time, it is important to make sure your therapy continues to work over time.

SleepWell Solutions recommends that patients with mild to moderate apnea have a check-up every year to see if their TAP is working correctly.

We recommend that patients with severe apnea get checked at least every six months.