What Is Sleep Apnea and Why Should I Care?
Sleep apnea can cause serious problems, which is why we provide obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) treatment.
A patient with sleep apnea wakes up several times during the night—sometimes even more than a hundred times. This happens because the airway collapses or is obstructed, sending signals to your brain that you need to wake up so you can start breathing again.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea
A patient with sleep disordered breathing may have one of three types of sleep apnea:
- Obstructive sleep apnea.
- Central sleep apnea.
- Mixed sleep apnea.
Most people with sleep apnea suffer from obstructive sleep apnea. This occurs during sleep when the airway becomes blocked, sending signals to your brain to wake you up. Unfortunately, both the lack of proper oxygen and the constant waking throughout the night can be detrimental to your health.
Obstructive sleep apnea can occur when the muscles in your airway collapse or if the structure around your airway is large or swollen. Our goal is to help you sleep through the night by opening up your airway while you sleep.
For more information, take a look at our videos.
Symptoms of Sleep Apnea
Many people have sleep apnea but aren’t aware yet. Snoring is one of the most common symptoms of sleep apnea.
You may also experience the following:
- Your partner notices that you stop breathing during sleep.
- Extreme exhaustion and sleepy feeling during the day.
- Loud snoring or snorting.
- Dry mouth in the morning.
- Headaches when you wake or chronic headaches throughout the day.
- Memory loss and difficulty concentrating.
- Increased irritability or signs of depression.
- High blood pressure.
- Waking up in the middle of the night with a choking or gasping sound.
If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, give us a call. We can help you get a proper diagnosis and talk to you about a sleep apnea solution that can help you get a good night’s sleep again!
Why You Need Continuous Sleep
Some patients might wonder why they need to treat sleep apnea if it doesn’t seem to be causing many problems, aside from being tired. The truth is that you need a full night’s sleep in order for your body to function properly.
Let’s talk about a few of the effects of sleep apnea:
- Healthy Brain Function. When you can sleep through the night with maximum oxygen flow, you allow the neurons in your brain to heal and reorganize.
- Healthy Emotions. When you don’t sleep well, your brain might be too tired to handle the everyday stresses of life. You can easily lose your ability to respond well emotionally when you don’t get enough sleep.
- Weight Management. Rest is an important part of maintaining good physical health. You can keep your weight down or lose weight easier when your body is able to restore itself during the night.
- Healthy Heart. Your heart is your most important organ, and you need oxygen and sleep for your heart to function the way it should.
In addition, a good night’s sleep can help your body rebuild cells, conserve oxygen, regulate insulin, and increase your immunity.
How a Dental Appliance Can Help
Breathing through your nose is one of the most beneficial things you can do for the overall health of your body and longevity. One of those most important differences is that nasal breathing allows us to intake nitric oxide and mouth breathing does not. Nitric oxide is vital to our health for many reasons including healthy blood flow, anti-inflammatory factors, immune defense, brain health, digestion, hormonal effects, bladder function and more. Nasal breathing keeps oxygen in our lungs and bloodstream longer which allows the body to be able to restore and re energize rather than being in constant survival mode with mouth breathing. In addition, our nose vaporizes and purifies the air we breathe to help prevent intake of germs and illnesses. Mouth breathing is a form of disordered breathing and can have many very serious and negative long term health consequences.
A custom oral sleep appliance works as it expands the palate and allows more space for the tongue to rest in its proper position. When your tongue is able to rest in its proper position, it opens up the airway and allows you to breathe through your nose which helps with snoring, tossing and turning, waking up feeling tired, etc. Appliance therapy provides a long term solution to sleep apnea whereas other treatments only offer a temporary fix, that can carry negative effects.
Come to our office and we can assist you with a sleep assessment and provide you with an oral sleep appliance that opens your airway and helps keep it from collapsing. Our dental appliances are comfortable, custom-fitted, and effective in patients with obstructive sleep apnea.
For More Information About Our Oral Sleep Appliances, Call Our Office Today!
Are you ready to get a good night’s sleep without the noise of a CPAP machine? Call our office today! We’re excited to meet you and show you how we can help you rediscover your health and energy. You can also watch our videos for more information.