Dental Sleep Apnea
Daniel J. Burton, DDS - Grand Rapids Dental Center for Sleep Apnea
Snoring to Sleep Apnea
Occasional snoring is usually not very serious and is mostly a nuisance for the bed partner of the person who snores, However, the habitual snorer not only disrupts the sleep pattern of those close to him, he also disturbs his own. A constant loss of sleep can lead to more serious problems that require medical assistance.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) occurs when the soft tissue in a person's throat repeatedly collapes and blocks the airway during sleep preventing you from breathing for a period of time.
These partial and complete pauses in breathing can last between 10 and 30 seconds. These pauses can happen hundreds of times a night leading to dangerous reductions in blood oxygen levels.
The brain alerts the body to its low level of oxygen the body reacts by briefly waking up to begin breathing. This continues all night long and you lose precious sleep that leads to excessive daytime sleepiness.
Most people with OSA snore loudly and often with periods of silence, which is a suffocating period of no air. They then make a choking, snorting, or gasping sound when the airway reopens.
How does oral appliance therapy work?
Custom made oral appliances reposition the tongue and lower your jaw forward during sleep to maintain an open airway. As a dentist, trained in dental sleep medicine, we can select, fabricate, fit, and adjust these devices which look like a mouth guard, to help patients breath freely during sleep.
A dentist cannot diagnose sleep apnea. Diagnosis should be done at an accredited sleep center.
Who should use an oral appliance?
Oral Appliance Therapy is used to treat mild to moderate OSA if they prefer it to the Continuous Positive Air Pressure (CPAP), the standard treatment therapy, or are unable to tolerate the CPAP.
Having Trouble with your CPAP?
- Did you know that 25 to 50 percent of sleep apnea patients do not comply with or tolerate CPAP?
Untreated OSA increases your risk for:
- Excessive daytime sleepiness
- Driving and work-related accidents
- High Blood Pressure
- Heart Disease
- Stroke
- Obesity
- Memory loss
- Morning headaches
- Irritability
- Impaired concentration
Contact our Grand Rapids Dental Center for Sleep Apnea at 616-784-9150 for more details on Dental Sleep Apnea or to schedule your appointment today!