If you feel as though you never have energy, you may need to consider receiving a dental sleep treatment. This constant lack of energy could be caused by debilitating sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which your airway becomes blocked as you sleep, and you wake up repeatedly without even realizing it. This can lead to persistent fatigue.
Common Symptoms of Sleep Apnea
When sleep apnea is something you struggle with, you may experience feeling tired after a full night of rest, abnormal breathing patterns while you sleep, insomnia, sleep deprivation, loud breathing, and a dry mouth or throat. Your spouse may also complain that you snore. Results of sleep apnea could be depression, headaches, weight gain, irritability, teeth grinding, mood swings, stroke, heart disease, diabetes, and low oxygen levels in the bloodstream. These are just a few potential results of sleep apnea in addition to many others, even early death.
Dental Sleep Treatment
Oral appliance therapy is one of our most common dental sleep treatments. Our specially designed oral appliance is a great alternative to a more intrusive CPAP treatment. CPAP requires the wearing of a machine while you sleep that provides continuous positive airway pressure. This opens your airway so that you can breathe better. Oral appliance therapy is a dental sleep treatmentthat maintains an unobstructed airway while you sleep without the use of airway pressure. This will provide adequate oxygen and a better night rest without being bulky or uncomfortable.
Two Types of Oral Appliances
There are two main types of oral appliance dental sleep treatment: mandibular repositioning appliances which gently reposition the lower jaw in a position that opens the airway by indirectly moving the tongue forward. This stimulates the activity of the mouth muscles including the tongue, making it more rigid so that it does not fall towards the back of your throat, causing airway blockage.
The second type is tongue retaining appliances that hold the tongue forward using a suction mechanism. When the tongue is in this position, it helps keep the back of the tongue from falling or collapsing during sleep. This keeps the airway unobstructed.
We can help you determine which of these forms of oral appliance dental sleep treatment is right for your specific needs.
Diagnosis and Treatment
After you have been officially diagnosed with sleep apnea, we may suggest oral appliances as the most helpful form of treatment for you.
When you visit our office for dental sleep treatment, it may take more than one visit to examine you, take molds of your mouth, and have your oral appliance created and fitted. Once you receive your oral appliance, you will be able to try it at home. If you have any fitting issues, you need to contact our office so that we can readjust your device so that it will work correctly and stay in place securely.
In most cases, patients wake up refreshed the next morning and notice a significant improvement in their sleep patterns when they wear their oral appliances to sleep every night. Visit our office for your proper dental sleep treatment today.