What is sleep apnea?
Sleep apnea is a condition where you completely stop breathing or start taking shallow breaths. This can last anywhere from a few seconds and can go up to almost a minute or more. This leads to you waking up in the middle of the night without even being aware of it, causing you to wake up feeling tired and not getting a restful night's sleep.
Who can get sleep apnea?
Sleep apnea can occur in any age range, be it children, adults, or even the geriatric population. It can occur in men and women, and hence there should not be any bias when we are screening patients for sleep apnea.
What are the different kinds of sleep apnea?
There are three different kinds of sleep apnea. One is central sleep apnea, the second is called obstructive sleep apnea, and last but not least, it's called mixed sleep apnea.
What happens in central sleep apnea?
Let's try to understand what happens in central sleep apnea. This is a situation where the brain is not sending signals to the respiratory muscles to breathe. This is a situation where typically patients won't breathe.
What happens in obstructive sleep apnea?
Let's look into obstructive sleep apnea. This is a situation where there is an obstruction in the back of the throat, especially at the base of the tongue, where patients are unable to breathe, or they can't breathe because of the obstruction.
What is mixed sleep apnea?
Mixed sleep apnea is where we see both events.
What is the dentist's role in sleep apnea?
The main role of the dentist is in the effective management of obstructive sleep apnea. That's where we can make a huge difference.
What are some common signs of sleep apnea?
Some of the most common signs of sleep apnea are snoring, choking or gasping for breath, teeth grinding, morning headaches, excessive daytime sleepiness, waking up to use the restroom excessively in the nighttime, feeling very tired when you wake up in the daytime, and not feeling well rested when you wake up in the morning, just to name a few.
What are some common findings during a routine dental exam for patients with potential sleep apnea?
Some of the common findings during routine dental exams that we see for patients with potential sleep apnea are grinding and wear facets on their teeth, dryness in their mouth, more susceptibility to dental decay or gum disease, or even TMJ disorders, just to name a few.
How do dentists help manage sleep apnea?
Dentists have a very pivotal role to play in the management of sleep apnea. It starts with a good screening, which should happen during every exam when patients are here for their routine hygiene visits. After a screening, if they screen positive, then they are referred to the right places so they can get tested for sleep apnea, and then they go through the recommendation process for the right treatment. Their sleep doctor would be the one who would guide them on what would be the right treatment.
How can dentistry help treat obstructive sleep apnea?
When it comes to dentistry, dentists can help in the management of sleep apnea, especially from the treatment perspective, by fabricating custom oral devices, which can be an adjunct or a substitute to the CPAP, which helps in the effective management of obstructive sleep apnea.
Can oral surgery cure sleep apnea?
Oral surgery can help cure sleep apnea, especially in little kids who have the diagnosis of either enlarged tonsils or adenoids. Most of the time, when those are removed and it is combined with good orthodontic treatment, which includes but is not limited to expansion of the palate, it most of the time helps resolve the condition. But as adults, you cannot cure sleep apnea. We can just manage sleep apnea.
What are the options for sleep apnea management?
Sleep apnea management can be effectively done either with CPAP therapy, with a custom sleep oral device, surgery, or a combination of all as needed.
What kind of oral devices do you recommend for obstructive sleep apnea?
We recommend custom-fabricated, FDA-cleared sleep oral devices for management of obstructive sleep apnea. But at the end of the day, the efficacy of the device or the effectiveness of the device is the most important thing.
How is the effectiveness of a custom sleep oral device determined?
The effectiveness of the device, or the custom sleep oral device, is determined by not only its efficacy but also the compliance the patient has toward utilizing these devices. This has to be determined by the sleep doctor to see how effective the treatment is with these custom-fabricated sleep oral devices.
What should I do if I think I have signs of obstructive sleep apnea?
If you feel like you have any of the possible signs and symptoms that we just discussed shortly in this video about obstructive sleep apnea, or you're curious to know more about this condition, please give us a call and we'll be happy to schedule a consultation and go over any questions or concerns you have, and also help you with effective next steps to be able to gain understanding of this condition.
Want to learn more? Call Renaissance Family and Cosmetic Dentistry at (916) 237-4419 or email [email protected]. Our team is happy to answer your questions and help schedule your visit.