National Sleep Foundation Declares Oral Appliance Therapy a Therapy Whose Time has Come.

United States of America (Press Release) March 5, 2008 -- The Winter 2008 issue of Sleep Matters, Volume 10, Issue 1 cover story is on Oral Appliances for treating sleep disordered breathing. More than 100 million americans snore and this is often a sign of sleep apnea. The NSF poll recently showed that 59% of patients 18-64 snore. CPAP is considered the gold standard of treatment for sleep apnea but less than half of the patients prescribed oral appliances actually use their CPAP. Studies have shown that patients prefer oral appliances to CPAP when given a choice.

Dr Ira L Shapira is a Chicago Dentist who practices in Gurnee, Il who has been working with oral appliances for over 25 years. He has believed in the future of Dental Sleep Medicine and was a charter and credentialed member of the Sleep Disorder Dental Society which has now become The American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine and was involved in research comparing jaw position in sleep apnea patients and comparing it to normal patients and patients with TMJ Disorders as a visiting Assistant Professor at Rush Medical School in the 1980's . Dr Shapira had the honor of working with Rosalind Cartwright PhD the primary force in bringing dental sleep medicine into the medical arena. Her articles on the tongue retaining device were landmark papers but the medical community was focused more on surgery and CPAP to treat apnea and in spite of her landbreaking work it is only recently that oral appliances have been accepted by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine as a first choice of treatment for mild to moderate apnea.

Dr Shapira founded I HATE CPAP LLC to promote the practice of Dental Sleep Medicine and to help patients find dentists trained in treating sleep apnea and snoring with oral appliances. The website http://www.ihatecpap.com has excellent information on sleep apnea, the medical problems associated with sleep apnea, treatment alternative to cpap with special emphasis on oral appliance. Hundreds of patients turn to ihatecpap.com every day to learn about sleep apnea treatment and to find a dentists who treat apnea and snoring. Dr Shapira is the Dental Section editor of Sleep and Health Journal and has published several article on Dental Sleep Medicine. WWW.sleepandhealth.com has this patient oriented journal available for excellent information on all aspects of sleep.

Patients in Illinois and Wisconsin can see Dr Shapira in his Gurnee office and will soon be able to see him or his associates in Chicago and surrounding suburbs. Dr Shapira teaches courses on Dental Sleep Medicine to dentists from around the U.S. March 7-8 is the next course and has full enrollment. Dentists interested in learning Dental Sleep Medicine can contact Dr Shapira for information on future course.

Patients interested in treating their apnea without hoses, masks or CPAP should contact Dr Ira Shapira TOLL FREE at 1-8-NO-PAP-MASK OR AT WWW.IHATECPAP.COM

Watch for announcements of several new locations across the Chicagoland region for treatment with comfortable oral appliance therapy.