Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a sleep disorder where breathing is paused multiple times an hour by a partially or complete blocked airway. This blockage occurs when the structures around your airway relax after you fall asleep.
This pause in air creates a multitude of negative effects on the body:
Dentally these effects can be observed with teeth wear, teeth cracks, and even TMJ pain or discomfort. When your airway is blocked while sleeping your body wakes itself up and part of this process can involve clenching and/or grinding your teeth. This process helps open the airway back up. Unfortunately, it doesn't last long in OSA patients, they typically return to snoring again. This is followed by another blockage of the airway which isa vicious cycle that just keeps on repeating throughout the night.
Sleep Apnea is diagnosed by having a sleep test performed. The test results are then read by a Board-Certified Sleep Physician.
These tests can be done with a home sleep test or with an overnight lab sleep study.
Depending on the levels of severity the Sleep Physician will make treatment recommendations. These recommendations could include a CPAP machine or a Dental Sleep Appliance.
Being overweight can contribute to this but it’s not the only cause even people who are not overweight have OSA.
A CPAP machine is a piece of equipment that through the use of hoses and masks, blows positive pressure air down your nose and mouth as you sleep to help keep the airway open.
If you use the CPAP machine it is a great solution for treating OSA and has great results. Some patients find it uncomfortable to wear and don't like the hoses, masks, and side effects. Some of the side effects can be dry airway, sore throat, respiratory infections from not properly cleaning the mask and hoses, bloating from excess air, and soreness from the mask. Some people are just claustrophobic and can't tolerate a mask and hoses over their face.
A dental sleep appliance is an appliance that covers both arches of your teeth and has a mechanism to keep the lower jaw from falling back and blocking the airway as you sleep.
There are a variety of new sleep appliances available today to help treat patients with OSA. These appliances help keep the airway open at night allowing the patient to breath normally.
Only after you have had a proper sleep test, diagnosis of OSA, and a recommendation for sleep appliance can we assist in fabricating you a sleep appliance.
Both Dr. Glass and Dr. Edgar are patients being treated for OSA with a dental sleep appliance. They know what it’s like because they are patients receiving the benefits from dental sleep appliance therapy and speak to you personally about their experiences. Both Dr. Glass and Edgar have completed the advanced training required to assist medical doctors with OSA treatment with dental sleep appliances. In addition to the training, they have invested in the very latest advanced technology to assist in making the best dental sleep appliance possible. This includes technology to properly fit and adjust the appliance by measuring your airway. In addition, this technology includes digital scans of your teeth and doesn't require any old style dental impressions. They only use the best labs in the country and only the best dental sleep appliances available.
ProSomnus® EVO® Sleep and Snore Device
