The Dentists of Village Dental
What is Sleep Apnea?

The Greek word "apnea" literally means "without breath." There are three types of apnea: obstructive, central, and mixed; of the three, obstructive is the most common. Despite the difference in the root cause of each type, in all three, people with untreated sleep apnea stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, sometimes hundreds of times during the night and often for a minute or longer.

Sleep apnea is very common, as common as adult diabetes, and affects more than eighteen million Americans, according to the National Institutes of Health. Risk factors include being male, overweight, and over the age of forty, but sleep apnea can strike anyone at any age, even children. Yet still because of the lack of awareness by the public and health care professionals, the vast majority remains undiagnosed and therefore untreated, despite the fact that this serious disorder can have significant consequences.

Untreated, sleep apnea can cause memory problems, weight gain, impotency, headaches, high blood pressure and other cardiovascular disease,including heart attack, stroke and even death! Moreover, untreated sleep apnea may be responsible for job impairment and motor vehicle crashes. Fortunately, sleep apnea can be diagnosed and treated.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when the tissue in the back of the throat collapses and blocks the airway. This keeps air from getting into the lungs.

When the blood-oxygen level drops low enough, the body wakes up. It happens so quickly that the sleeper may not even remember the arousal. But waking up hundreds of times a night can make a person feel very tired the next day.

Treatment Options

Behavior therapies such as losing weight, avoiding alcohol and tobacco smoke, and sleeping on your side can decrease the severity of sleep apnea.

Medical and dental treatments include (1) Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), (2) oral appliance therapy and (3) upper-airway surgery.

(1) Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP)

CPAP uses pressurized air generated from a bedside machine. The air moves through a tube, connected to a mask that covers your nose, mouth, or nose and mouth. The force of the pressurized air keeps the airway open. CPAP opens the airway like air into a balloon; when air is blown into the balloon, it expands. CPAPs are obtained by going through a doctor specialized in sleep theorpy.

(2) Oral Appliance Therapy

Oral appliances are worn in the mouth to treat snoring and OSA. These devices are similar to orthodontic retainers or sports mouth guards. They maintain an opened, unobstructed airway. There are many different FDA-approved oral appliances available.

Oral appliance therapy involves the selection, design, fitting and follow-up care of a custom-made oral appliance for sleep apnea treatment. Dentists trained in dental sleep medicine (DSM) are familiar with the various designs of appliances. They can determine which one best suits your specific needs.

Your dentist will work with your physician and sleep specialist as part of a medical team. Initiation of oral appliance therapy can take several weeks to several months to complete. Your dentist will continue to monitor your treatment and evaluate the response of your teeth and jaws.

Oral appliances work in several ways:

• Repositioning the lower jaw, tongue, soft palate and uvula
• Stabilizing the lower jaw and tongue
• Increasing the muscle tone of the tongue
• Oral appliances may be used alone or in combination with other sleep apnea therapies, including weight management, surgery or CPAP.

(3) Surgery

A third option may use minimally invasive procedures or more complex surgery, including jaw advancement. It may be necessary to remove tonsils and adenoids (especially in children), the uvula, or parts of the soft palate and throat.

Village Dental and Oral Appliance Therapy

The dentists at Village Dental are trained in dental sleep medicine and are familiar with the various designs of dental sleep appliances. They can determine if Oral Appliance Therapy is right for you and which dental appliance best suits your specific needs.

If you or someone you know suffers from sleep apnea, a dental sleep appliance may be the answer! Call Village Dental today.