SLEEP APNEA TREATMENT IN PLEASANT HILL, CA
You know it instinctively: A good night's sleep is essential for good health.
It makes you feel rested and ready to take on the world. Yet many people don't get the sleep they need. Sometimes this is related to sleep-related breathing disorders (SRBD) — their own, or those experienced by their sleeping partners.
Dental Sleep Medicine
SRBD is characterized by recurrent episodes of reduced or interrupted respiratory airflow. This is caused by soft tissues near the back of the throat collapsing during sleep so that they partially close off the windpipe. These tissues — the tongue, for example — can vibrate as air passes by, causing snoring. Snoring is often worsened sleeping on one's back because this encourages the lower jaw to slip back, which in turn pushes the tongue in front of the airway.
Loud snoring often disturbs the person in the bed who isn't the one doing it, robbing him or her of vital sleep. The snorer, on the other hand, may seem to be slumbering peacefully, but this might not actually be the case. Chronic loud snoring is a common symptom of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA; “a” – without; “pnea” – breath), which occurs when the upper airway is blocked to the point of causing significant airflow disruption, or even no airflow whatsoever for 10 seconds or more. This can be dangerous as reduced airflow into the lungs lowers blood-oxygen levels.
A person with sleep apnea may wake 50 or more times per hour — that's almost once a minute! — without having any memory of it. These awakenings, called micro-arousals, last just long enough to restore muscle tone to the airway so the individual can breathe. Unfortunately, all those micro-arousals preclude deep and restful sleep.
What to Look Out For
Obstructive Sleep Apnea is a serious matter as it can lead to heart problems and other health issues. It's possible you may have OSA if you snore and also suffer from any of the following:
- Excessive daytime sleepiness
- Irritability
- Poor memory/confusion
- Accident proneness
- Night sweats
- Morning headaches
- High blood pressure
- Obesity
How Dentistry Can Help
By now you're probably wondering: What does my dentist have to do with all this? Here's the connection: Snoring or sleep apnea can sometimes be treated with an oral appliance available at the dental office that's designed to hold the lower jaw forward during sleep. This repositioning of the jaw moves the tongue away from the back of the throat, reducing the potential for obstruction. This treatment is backed by a great deal of scientific evidence; it's a good remedy to try before moving on to more complicated breathing devices or surgery to remove excess tissues in the throat.
Only a dentist can fabricate, fit, adjust, monitor, and treat complications associated with Oral Appliance Therapy used in managing SRBD. So if you or a loved one is experiencing any combination of the signs and symptoms mentioned above, a consultation with a dental professional is a good idea.
Sleep Apnea - Symptoms, Causes and Treatments
Failure of continuous breathing is referred to as apnea in medicine. A person may have breathing pauses (hypopneas) during sleep that last 10 seconds or longer, either partially or completely. These breathing pauses are typically accompanied by a drop in blood oxygen levels.
Approximately 22 million Americans experience sleep apnea, which impairs their ability to sleep and makes them exhausted. Sleep disturbances and snoring issues are more than simply an annoyance. If untreated, sleep apnea can result in heart disease, stroke, and heart attacks. Breathing interruptions while sleeping is a common but serious sleep disease known as sleep apnea.
The tongue and nearby soft tissues sink back into the throat during sleep as a result of gravity and our muscles relaxing, obstructing airflow. Breathing stops as a result of this. Sleep apnea is breathing pauses.
The strain to breathe and subsequent drop in oxygen saturation will eventually cause the person to wake up, opening the throat and enabling them to breathe once again. These arousals are typically brief and forgotten the next day. An unsettling sense of choking could be brought on by longer apneas. Every night, this cycle may repeat hundreds of times, interfering with the body's natural sleep cycle and depriving us of the deep, rejuvenating sleep our bodies need.
The short-term effects of sleep apnea include excessive daytime sleepiness, lack of energy, loss of focus, irritability, slower reflexes, and a higher risk of accidents.
There are numerous oral appliances for sleep apnea available. Come into our Muir Hill Dental office to see what sleep apnea treatment is right for you, our office is in Pleasant Hill.
Changes in sleeping postures, weight loss, exercise, and lifestyle modifications can lessen the consequences of sleep apnea. Surgery is used to treat sleep apnea in severe situations. The CPAP machine is the most widely used treatment for all varieties of sleep apnea. With CPAP, the patient goes to bed wearing a breathing mask attached to a respirator machine. By forcing air into the airways, the gadget makes it easier to breathe continuously.
A tiny oral appliance used during sleep can help treat OSA and lessen its symptoms. This night guard is manufactured specifically for the patient and fits them wonderfully. It is made to keep the jaw in the right alignment, which naturally widens your airway for improved breathing. It also helps stop soft tissues from compressing and restricting respiration. If you are interested in an oral appliance for sleep apnea then please book a consultation with our specialist at Muir Hill Dental, we’ll help you find the right sleep apnea treatment or you can also consult us for other dental services like
TMJ treatment in Pleasant Hill.
-Snoring and sleep apnea symptom relief is just a dentist away-
When it comes to health, good sleep is just as important as diet and exercise. Learn how a custom-fit, easy-to-use, and FDA-cleared oral appliance can improve both your symptoms and overall quality of life. Click
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So if you or a loved one is experiencing any combination of the signs and symptoms mentioned above, contact our office for a consultation with one of our dental professional today.
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