What is sleep apnea?
Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder in which breathing partially or fully stops for a few seconds up to a few minutes. Your brain wakes you up just enough to catch a breath and this prevents restful, healthy sleep. Many times, snoring can be an indication of an obstructed airway causing sleep apnea. This is your body’s response in attempt to open the airway. Excessive daytime sleepiness and snoring are the most common indicators of this sleep disorder.
What are signs of sleep apnea? Can this affect my overall health?
Excessive daytime sleepiness, snoring, insomnia, gasping for air during sleep are signs of obstructive sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea can also affect your overall health. Sleep apnea can put you at a greater risk to develop or worsen conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, anxiety or depression, stroke and heart failure.
If you – or your partner – are experiencing these symptoms and/or having difficulty getting restful sleep, an at-home sleep test may be a great place to start!
Treatment with a Custom Oral Appliance
An oral sleep appliance looks similar to an occlusal guard or night guard. This custom device is worn on both the upper and lower jaw, posturing your lower jaw forward – thereby creating room for proper airflow. This appliance can be worn alone or in conjunction with a CPAP if necessary.
Benefits of an Oral Appliance vs. a CPAP?
Studies have shown that oral devices are equally as effective as a CPAP for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea.
Advantages of the Oral Appliance:
- Easy to travel with
- Makes NO noise
- Does not require electricity
- No head gear or hoses
- No consumable parts to replace
- Does not limit sleep positions
The Process for Obtaining a Custom Oral Appliance
The first step to a diagnosis and a good night’s sleep is an in-office consultation. At this appointment we will discuss your concerns and hopefully send you home with an at-home sleep test device (if you don’t already have a sleep test result within the past two years).
Once the sleep test is completed, we will send your results to a physician to receive a diagnosis. With a treatable diagnosis, we can fax a prescription request to your physician for completion.
Once we are ready to move forward with the appliance, we will take a digital scan of your teeth and send it to a dental sleep lab for the appliance to be fabricated. A series of adjustments may be needed after the appliance is delivered but most patients adapt well. In some cases, a follow-up sleep study may be indicated.
We work with a medical billing company to file and receive preauthorization from your medical insurance. Since this appliance is not billed to dental insurance, we are able to accept all patients even if you are not a current dental patient in our office.