Patent ID: 7921850

Claim:
A system comprising an appliance sized and configured to be worn inside a mouth, the appliance including a body shaped to releasably engage a hard tissue region within the mouth so that the appliance can be selectively fitted into and removed from the mouth, the body including a first component material, and a second component sized and shaped to be implanted within a region of the tongue, said tongue having a portion disposed in the mouth, said region of the tongue being a region of the portion of said tongue disposed in the mouth, the second component including a second component material that magnetically interacts with the first component material via a force of attraction so that, when the appliance is worn within the mouth, magnetic interaction between the first and second component materials stabilizes a preferred orientation of the tongue within the mouth, wherein the region of the portion of said tongue disposed in the mouth is greater than one-half of the distance from the tip of said tongue to the back of the portion of said tongue disposed in the mouth, wherein said distance starts from the tip of said tongue, and wherein said back is opposite said tip.