No Mask Required: Oral Appliance Sleep Apnea Stories

Inside this volume

Fifty first-person accounts describe treating obstructive sleep apnea with an oral appliance, the custom-made device that holds the lower jaw forward at night. Many came to it after struggling with CPAP: an Army veteran with PTSD who could not bear the mask, a night-shift nurse with strap sores, a mother of three whose children climbed into bed all night, a call centre team leader in Johannesburg working around load shedding. Others were steered there by a dentist who noticed worn teeth, or by partners frightened by the pauses in their breathing. The writers include a Toronto bus driver, a Belfast pub landlord, a ship's engineer from Manila, a trumpet player, a taxi driver who fell asleep at a red light in Istanbul and an 81-year-old retired vicar. Several wives and husbands write from the other side of the bed. The accounts cover impressions and scans, tiny adjustments, a device eaten by a Labrador, quotes from five clinics, a tongue device for a man with dentures, and pairing the appliance with CPAP, nose surgery or weight loss. Not every story settles neatly: for a New Orleans restaurant owner the device did not suit the jaw, a lawyer's bite moved after it had been working, and a retired woman in Phoenix found it better than nothing but not yet good.

Who it's for

For people newly diagnosed with sleep apnea who cannot tolerate CPAP or want to know the alternatives, for those already wearing an oral appliance, and for the partners lying awake beside them.

Format · Instant download · PDF & EPUB · Fifty first-person accounts · PDF: 281 pages

A collection of personal testimony, offered as companion reading — not medical advice.

• 50 single-author testimonies from real people
• A short, plain-language introduction to the topic
• Editor's note, contents page, and curated resource list
• Professional interior typesetting and an original cover

Every purchase includes a print-quality PDF (best for desktop, tablet, and printing) and a reflowable EPUB (best for Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, and phones). Files are DRM-free. You can download both instantly from the order-confirmation screen, and we email them to your inbox as well, so your books are always within reach.