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​Sleep Apnea Appliance
Approximately 80% of people with Obstructive Sleep Apnea are still undiagnosed. Obstructive Sleep Apnea increases your risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, cognitive impairment, and depression.
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Obstructive Sleep Apnea happens when the airway completely or partially collapse during sleep causing interruptions of normal airflow and breathing. These interruptions manifest as snoring and/or gasping and cause decreased oxygenation to the body and brain. Instead of experiencing refreshing and rejuvenating sleep, people suffering with OSA have the opposite effect and wake up tired and feeling unrefreshed. San Francisco Dental Sleep Medicine is committed to helping patients with both diagnostics and treatment of OSA with dental Oral Appliances so that they can live longer, healthier and more vibrant lives. Oral Appliances are the most popular CPAP alternative available, so if you tried CPAP and could not tolerate it, Oral Appliance Therapy might be the best option for you to treat your sleep apnea.
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If you snore regularly, wake up frequently, toss and turn during the night, experience night sweats, or are always tired during the day, then you may be suffering from Obstructive Sleep Apnea.
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​How Do Oral Appliances
Treat Sleep Apnea?
Oral Appliance Therapy is a medically proven treatment for patients suffering from Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome, and Chronic Snoring. This treatment modality involves a comprehensive diagnostic process, a custom Oral Appliance, and follow-up home sleep testing to ensure effective treatment.
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Snoring and Obstructive Sleep Apnea occur when the airway completely or partially collapses while you’re asleep, which interrupts your normal breathing. It happens when your tongue and the muscles in your neck relax and impinge on the tissues that make up your airway, which obstructs air flow. Oral Appliance Therapy works by preventing the tissues and muscles involved from blocking the airway by holding the jaw in a stable position. The Oral Appliance looks similar to a night guard, except it’s specially designed to treat abnormal breathing during sleep, and it is highly customized for each patient.
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Oral Appliances can be much easier to use than other devices, such as Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) masks, and have much less impact than invasive surgery. In fact, many patients can obtain complete relief from their Obstructive Sleep Apnea simply from using an Oral Appliance. In some cases, however, depending on the patient’s unique anatomy, combination therapy may be needed to achieve the best results.
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Oral Appliance Therapy is much more than just wearing a device while you sleep; it’s a whole process, involving a range of medical and dental diagnostics, specific recommendations for each patient, custom Oral Appliance fabrication, and follow-up sleep tests to determine the effectiveness of the treatment.
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​What are the Signs and Symptoms of Sleep Apnea?
Obstructive Sleep Apnea is a serious sleep-related breathing disorder, characterized by partial or complete blockage of the airway during sleep. The disorder has specific signs and symptoms, some occurring during sleep and some while awake, along with health issues that can be caused by or related to the sleep apnea.
Signs That Occur
During Sleep
Obstructive Sleep Apnea “events” occur when normal breathing is interrupted. These interruptions appear as snoring, breathing pauses, choking, gasping, or snorting—or any combination of these symptoms.
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Snoring is a very common sign of Obstructive Sleep Apnea, but it’s not a definite indicator that a person has it. Most people have no direct way of knowing how severe their snoring is or, indeed, whether they snore at all, and therefore need others to inform them that they snore.
When snoring is accompanied by pauses, gasps, and/or snorting sounds, there’s a greater likelihood of sleep apnea. If you’ve actually woken yourself up from your own snoring or gasping, or you simply wake up abruptly, it’s an even stronger sign of sleep apnea. You need a sleep study to diagnose sleep apnea regardless of how weak or strong your signs and symptoms are. Snoring is the most common sign and should always be taken seriously.
Signs That Occur
While Awake
There are multiple signs and symptoms that can occur while the patient is awake that may be a result of sleep apnea. One of the most common signs is excessive daytime fatigue. This is often hard to judge from person to person because symptoms vary widely. Some patients may simply feel unrefreshed from sleep, while others feel exhausted, struggling to stay awake while driving, working, and so on.
Morning headaches are another potential symptom, brought on by decreased oxygen to the brain as a result of sleep apnea. Concentration and memory problems can also indicate a sleep apnea problem for the same reason.
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In cases of children with sleep apnea, the symptoms can easily be confused with ADD, poor school preference, hostility, and frustration. TMJ and facial pain and grinding or clenching at night can also be related to sleep apnea.
Health Issues That Can Be Caused
Or Related To Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea puts a tremendous strain on the cardiovascular system due to oxygen desaturation, heart-rate and blood-pressure spikes that typically accompany interrupted breathing. For this reason and others, sleep apnea is strongly correlated with high blood pressure, heart disease, heart attacks, and strokes.
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Sleep apnea also correlates strongly with diabetes, weight gain and difficultly losing weight, and excessive hunger. Weight gain exacerbates sleep apnea, causing a vicious cycle of continued weight gain and worsening sleep apnea. Both men and women suffer from sleep apnea, but it’s more common in men and more common as people age.
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The risk of sleep apnea is much greater when a person exhibits multiple signs and symptoms. However, the severity of individual signs may not indicate accurately the presence or severity of sleep apnea. In some cases, a person might have only a single weak sign, but still have sleep apnea.
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Sleep testing in a lab or at home is the only way to actually diagnose or rule out sleep apnea. Home sleep testing is very easy, and there’s really no reason not to do it if you’re concerned that sleep apnea is impacting your sleep health or that of a family member. Simply put, if you don’t have healthy sleep, you are not healthy. You are paying a price with your overall wellbeing and the long-term effects can even be life threatening.
​Obstructive Sleep Apnea Overview: Signs, Symptoms, Terms, and Treatment
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Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a potentially life-threatening disorder that causes the airway to collapse either completely or partially, interrupting normal breathing during sleep and thus your ability to get oxygen to the brain and body.
Snoring is the most common symptom of OSA and should be taken very seriously. Snoring blocks normal airflow, and as millions of spouses, family members, and roommates of snorers can attest, it often interrupts their sleep as well.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea events can be full apneas which are complete closures of the airway which completely stop airflow for 10 seconds or more. OSA events can also be hypopneas, which are partial airway blockages that decrease airflow and reduce blood oxygen levels. Most OSA patients experience full apneas, hypopneas and other minor airflow limitations that don’t qualify as apneas or hypopneas but nonetheless still negatively impact sleep quality.
Patients suffering from apneas typically appear to be choking, gasping, or snorting while they’re asleep. Although snoring is a common symptom of OSA, it can also be causing a hypopnea and is thus a warning sign of a potential problem. This is so because snoring is an interruption of normal airflow.
Snoring can directly impact airflow and oxygen levels in the brain and body and interrupt sleep quality in both patients and their partners. For this reason, Chronic Snoring is commonly treated with Oral Appliance Therapy to give patients and their partners better sleep even if the person does not have diagnostic OSA.
It is impossible to know how damaging any individual’s snoring is without a sleep test. For this reason, we recommend that anyone with chronic snoring get a diagnosis. It’s an easy and very valuable test that can completely change your life. Unhealthy sleep will definitely impact your health overall, so if you think you might be suffering from Obstructive Sleep Apnea, you owe it to yourself to look into sleep testing and treatment.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea is defined as at least five apneas and/or hypopneas per hour of sleep. The number of apneas and/or hypopneas per hour is referred to as the Apnea Hypopnea Index, and it’s one of the things measured and calculated during a sleep test and confirmed by a board-certified sleep physician.
Depending on a patient’s Apnea Hypopnea Index number, their OSA is classified as mild, moderate, or severe. Mild OSA is indicated by an index of 5-15. Don’t let the word “mild” fool you; it still indicates a serious breathing disorder. Moderate OSA correlates with an index of 15-30, and severe OSA has an index of 30 or greater.
Oral Appliance Therapy can be prescribed as a first line of treatment for patients with mild-to-moderate OSA, but it can also be used as a CPAP alternative for severe OSA patients who do not tolerate CPAP well. Regardless of treatment modality, follow-up sleep testing is critical to determine whether the treatment is effective. Consistent compliance is a very important aspect to any treatment and that is why many patients are finding the dental appliance for sleep apnea to be the best option for them that they can consistently use.
​Why You Should Choose Us
Advanced Dentistry and Periodontics of Antioch is a dental practice that puts your health and comfort first. Led by Dr. Simkins and Dr. Reyes, we provide one-on-one, personalized care using the latest technology and advanced techniques for cosmetic dental care. Every treatment plan is tailored to your needs—never rushed, never cookie-cutter. Schedule a consultation today, and let Dr. Simkins and Dr. Reyes help you achieve the smile you deserve.