How Much Does It Cost to Treat Sleep Apnea?

Traditionally, many professionals have treated sleep apnea with CPAP therapy that uses a machine to deliver a steady stream of air directly into a patient’s airway. This can be very effective in helping many patients breathe better at night, but it doesn’t necessarily work for all patients. Also, it can be quite uncomfortable because the patient has to wear a face mask or nose piece as they sleep. On top of that, the machine itself is big and bulky, and can be quite loud, possibly even waking a sleep partner. All this can be pretty disruptive to the patient’s lifestyle, as well as his or her partner’s lifestyle, and these are significant problems. To complicate things further, a CPAP machine can be very expensive.

The alternative to CPAP therapy is oral appliance therapy. It works well for many cases of sleep apnea, especially those cases that are aggravated by TMJ (jaw joint) disorder. With oral appliance therapy, a custom-made and comfortable oral appliance is used to relax the muscles in the jaw and throat. This helps the muscles rest naturally and prevents the airway from collapsing or getting blocked. In fact, oral appliance therapy is proven to be effective and is approved by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

The best way to treat the condition is whichever way works best for an individual patient and his or her specific case of the condition. The patient’s lifestyle needs should never be overlooked. The more the treatment accommodates the patient’s lifestyle, the more likely the patient will be to continue with the treatment. Financial needs should be considered too. Affordability is a major concern for many patients, so let’s address this concern.

Oral appliance therapy can definitely be more cost effective than CPAP therapy. This is especially so when insurance covers the cost of oral appliance therapy, which is usually the case. In fact, both Medicare and Medicaid can cover the cost. There’s an even better chance that your insurance will cover oral appliance therapy if you’ve already tried CPAP therapy, your insurance covered it, and it didn’t work for you.

Although a CPAP machine is also typically covered by insurance, the machine has to be replaced every 5 years, the CPAP mask has to be replaced every 3 months, and other supplies, like filters, must be replaced every few weeks. The costs can add up significantly. With oral appliance therapy, only a simple oral appliance is necessary, and it doesn’t have to be replaced as often as CPAP masks and supplies must be. A CPAP machine costs an average of around $850, and although an oral appliance typically costs more, it doesn’t have the additional costs that come with CPAP therapy, and it’s usually covered by insurance.

When evaluating the cost of treating sleep apnea, it’s also important to consider the cost of not treating it. As it can lead to many different chronic conditions, like heart disease, the cost of not treating sleep apnea can be very high.

Here at Koala® Center For Sleep & TMJ Disorders, we provide oral appliance therapy and can tell you more about the cost to you. We have multiple locations in Bloomington IL, Peoria/Dunlap IL, Mishawaka IN, Kansas City MO, El Paso TX and Wausau WI, so please see our Appointments page for our locations’ addresses. You can book a consultation with us at that page or by calling us.