Sleep Apnea

Is snoring interrupting your sleep…or someone elses?

Snoring isn’t sexy… neither are strokes, heart  attacks or high blood pressure.
 
Almost everyone has  an uncle or cousin or dad whose snoring is legendary. We often joke about  these
people and tell stories of how their snoring actually   vibrates   walls. However, for many  families, this  is  no 
 joking matter! Snoring often deprives others of  sleep and often  leads  to couples  having  separate bedrooms.
Snoring  is truly no laughing matter, it may be a warning sign of danger.  Unfortunately.  the sleeper doesn’t
 hear  it, and  those that do, usually  don’t recognize it as a danger signal
Fact is, snoring is sometimes a cryfor help from someone who is suffering from Obstructive Sleep Apnea
(OSA), which deprives the body of proper oxygen, putting people at a higher risk  for high blood pressure, heart  attacks, strokes, diabetes and earlier onset of dementia.
If you snore,  or have been diagnosed with sleep apnea, specially educated and trained dentists can provide a 
solution with a medically-approved, custom designed  and  fitted dental appliance. The dental mouthpieces used as a
treatment for sleep apnea are small, comfortable.  and convenient  and extremely portable with no tubing,
no mask and no electricity, and no noise!
Almost half of adults snore. And the problem is worse with overweight persons.

What Makes the Snoring Noise?

Snoring occurs when there is a partial obstruction to the free flow of air through the mouth and nose at the opening of the airway at the back of the throat. The sound occurs when loose structures in the throat, like the uvula and soft palate. vibrate as air passes over them.
Snoring can get worse when lying on your back, from the gravitational forces pulling  the tongue and jaw backward to constrict the airway opening. and when the muscles in the back of the throat are too relaxed either from having
Obstructive Sleep Apnea or drugs that induce sleepor alcohol consumption.
 
Snoring can be serious both socially and medically. Snoring can disrupt marriages and cause sleepless nights for bed partners.

Prevalence

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)  can occur in any age group, but  the prevalence  increases between middle
and older age. It occurs across the general population in a prevalence similar to diabetes and asthma. Men and women with large neck sizes, overweight people and middle-aged and post menopausal women have a higher risk factor for developing OSA

About  24 percent  of men and  nine  percent  of women have the breathing symptoms of OSA with or without
daytime sleepiness.

About 80 percent  to 90 percent of adults with OSA remain undiagnosed!

Effects

The primary effect of sleep deprivation is  excessive daytime sleepiness. A sleep­ deprived  person is likely  to fall asleep when forced to sit still in a quiet or monotonous situation.  such as during a meeting or class or as a driver of a car driving long distances or waiting at a red light.
 This degree of severe sleepiness is a serious safety hazard causing drowsy driving and workplace injuries and even death!

The other effectsof sleep deprivation are widespread and include effects on our mood such as irritability, lack of motivation, anxiety, symptoms of depression and marital discord.

     People’s dailyperformance is most noticeably affected.  It quite often  is manifested as lack  of concentration, attention
deficits, slower reaction times, poor decisions and increased errors
     Lack of energy, fatigue, restlessness, forgetfulness and lack of coordination are all signs you may be suffering from daytime  fatigue syndrome and sleep apnea.
     The goodnews is that specially trained dentists canhelp with effective treatment options to stop snoring and sleep apnea. The solution  is a custom  made adjustable dental appliance. Snoring and  Sleep Apnea are often eliminated or substantially minimized for almost all patients who use this dental appliance.

   The computer designed intra-oral device lookssimilar to an athletic mouthguard and works by gently holding the lower jaw slightly forward duringsleep. By comfortably  keeping the jaw and tongue ln the correct position. the tongue cannot  fallbackwards towards the airway, to minimize the airway space for breathing,where the initial airflow changes occur. MRI studies  have  shown  that  insertion of  the  dental appliance will not only stop snoring by opening  the access  to  the  airway, but itwill also  threedimensionally dilate the airway  itself preventing  it from collapsing.

Oral appliance therapy is recommended  by TheAmerican Association of Sleep Medicine as
a first line of treatment for mild  or moderate sleep apnea and for severe sleep apnea when CPAP is not tolerable or indicated.

Acustom fitted dental sleep appliance will:

• Ensure a good nights sleep for your bed partner and
ensure that you spend the night in the same room

• Help prevent heart disease, sudden cardiac death. high blood pressure.
stroke, diabetes, depression. memory loss and even erectile dysfunction.

• Help prevent driving and
work-related  accidents
caused by the excessive daytime sleepiness related to sleep apnea

• Provide an alternative for the 25 -
60% of people with  sleep apnea  who cannot  tolerate or would rather not use a
CPAP device

To find out   if oral appliance therapy  is right for you, contact  a qualified dentist  who has been
Board Certified by the American  Board of Dental Sleep Medicine.
David J.Stern,DDS., D,ABDSM is a Doctor of Dental Surgery and is Board Certified        
by   The American Board of DentalSleep Medicine, a Member of The American
Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry and a Member of The Canadian Sleep Society.   Reach
him by phone at 905-773-3306 or email:info@dentistryinoakridges.com

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Dentistry In Oak Ridges

13291 Yonge Street, Suite 102
Richmond Hill, ON L4E 4L6
Phone: 905-773-3306
Fax: 905-773-1722