Founded in 1996, Airway Management, Inc. is a pioneer in sleep medicine. Building on our founder, Dr. Keith Thornton’s legacy, our dedicated team of innovators continues to drive advancements, with a shared commitment to constantly improving patient outcomes through cutting edge technology and independent research.
Dr. W. Keith Thornton is a third generation dentist who now limits his practice to the treatment of airway and breathing disorders.
He has over 70 U.S. and foreign patents for oral appliances, CPAP masks, and combination devices for the treatment of sleep-disordered breathing.
Back in the 1990s, only a few dentists were collaborating with sleep medicine specialists to fit their patients with oral appliances. The potential for helping millions of OSA sufferers drove him to push forward.
Dr. Thornton and his sleep medicine colleagues have proven that oral appliance therapy not only works, but patients are more compliant compared to CPAP.
In 1993, Dr. Thornton was introduced to a surgical treatment for OSA, the UPPP or “rotorooter” of surgeries. This prompted him to develop his own treatment based on an oral appliance that positions the mandible forward, preventing the soft tissues from collapsing in the airway.
The Thornton Adjustable Positioner (TAP) was born. Unlike any other devices at the time, the TAP could be adjusted, enabling titration in a sleep lab.
Fast forward to today: TAP appliances are the most studied and credible devices available on the market. With over 50+ peer reviewed studies, it has been documented that TAP appliances are highly effective for treating the entire range of sleep disordered breathing. They are safe, simple and effective.
TAP Sleep Care is available to millions of patients around the world, therefore fulfilling Dr. Thornton’s vision.
ISO 13485 – This is the internationally recognized standard for manufacturing medical devices. The FDA good manufacturing practices are based on this standard. AMI has been certified since 2013 to this standard.
FDA – All our products are cleared by the FDA under the 510k program. We are also frequently audited by the FDA to confirm compliance.
Medicare – All custom TAP devices are approved for reimbursement by Medicare under the EO486 code.
Authorized Partners – To allow the TAP devices to be easily available, we work with over 100 dental laboratories around the world to build the devices for their providers.
Founded in 1996, Airway Management, Inc. stands as one of the pioneering companies in the field of Dental Sleep Medicine. A key factor in our enduring success is the continued active involvement of our founder and inventor, Dr. W. Keith Thornton, who remains deeply engaged in advancing the company’s mission and innovations.
Dr. W. Keith Thornton, a third-generation dentist, has dedicated his career to the treatment of airway and breathing disorders. He now limits his practice exclusively to this specialty. With over 70 U.S. and international patents related to oral appliances, CPAP interfaces, and combination therapies for sleep-disordered breathing, Dr. Thornton has been a driving force in the evolution of non-surgical treatments for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and related conditions.
The journey began in the early 1990s when Dr. Thornton encountered the limitations of surgical options for OSA, such as uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP). Motivated to offer a less invasive alternative, he developed an adjustable oral appliance that advances the mandible to maintain upper airway patency and prevent soft tissue collapse during sleep. This led to the creation of the Thornton Adjustable Positioner (TAP®) in 1994, with the first commercial release in 1996.
Unlike many contemporaneous devices, the TAP featured patient-adjustable titration, allowing precise customization and in-lab monitoring to optimize therapeutic outcomes. In an era when collaboration between dentists and sleep medicine specialists was emerging, Dr. Thornton’s vision was to provide an effective, patient-friendly option for the millions affected by OSA.