Sleep Apnea

Snoring can put a strain on the strongest relationship, ruin a romantic holiday, or get you excluded from camping, golfing or ski vacations with your friends.

In addition, over time it can deteriorate into a severe medical condition known as obstructive sleep apnea. People who snore often deny that they have a problem, but ask yourself “Why would someone who loves you tell you that you snored if you didn’t?”

Obstructive sleep apnea is a condition in which the airway collapses numerous times per hour during sleep, inhibiting the passage of air. In addition to snoring, people with sleep apnea exhibit many other symptoms. Excessive daytime sleepiness, memory loss, morning headaches, dry mouth, acid reflux, depression, sexual dysfunction, high blood pressure and heartbeat irregularities are all associated with this serious medical condition.

The gold standard of care for the treatment of sleep apnea is CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure).

It consists of a machine which blows air through a hose attached to a facemask which allows the air to go down the patient’s airway and prevents its collapse. When it is worn it is almost 100% effective, but many people can’t tolerate it for reasons of discomfort, claustrophobia or inconvenience, especially for travel.

For those seeking an alternative to CPAP, an oral appliance is a proven option. It is a small custom made acrylic mouthpiece which comfortably positions the lower jaw forward, thereby pulling the tongue off the back of the airway. It is discrete, there are no hoses or masks, ideal for travel as it is small enough to fit in your pocket, not claustrophobic and is a non-surgical solution.

Before treating snoring and sleep apnea, dentist require medical input from the patient’s physicians and it is most important that they are appropriately trained so that they can interpret diagnostic sleep studies, communicate with medical practitioners, adjust the appliance to give a successful result and manage any side effects and complicaitons.