When you have risk factors for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), or if you continue to feel exhausted, then you may need treatment. As part of the diagnostic process, your Greenville, TX, dentist may recommend a sleep assessment. In today’s blog, we’re explaining how this process helps decide if you benefit from a custom oral appliance.
The Warning Signs You May Experience
OSA could interrupt your sleep cycle hundreds of times in a single night, dozens a times each hour on average. The disorder occurs when the airways are blocked as you breathe, caused by the relaxation and collapse of soft tissues in your throat and mouth. Once your breathing stops and your oxygen levels drop, the brain immediately wakes you. Sometimes you may wake suddenly gasping for air or choking, other times you may not know you were woken at all, but the next day you will feel exhausted. Other warning signs include dry mouth in the mornings, headaches during the day, moodiness and depression, trouble staying focused, and chronic snoring at night.
What Our Assessment Looks For
If you begin to experience one or more of the warning signs we discussed above, then contact our team for an assessment. We will ask a series of questions about your daily and nightly routine to better gauge your risk. For example, we take your blood pressure and weight, and discuss how often you snore. We want to know how tired you feel on a daily basis, and how quickly you find yourself out of energy each day. Our team will discuss your sleep qualities, how often you wake up, whether you have signs of depression or irritability, and other possible factors.
The Home Sleep Study and Appliance
What happens next? Often, if we find you meet the criteria for treatment, we will send you home with a small handheld device that measures your sleep and records blood oxygen levels and other indicators. If this shows you’re suffering from OSA, then we will move forwards with treatment. The oral appliance you receive will be created based on detailed impressions we take of your smile, ensuring optimal treatment and a comfortable fit. The appliance looks and fits like a mouthguard, and moves the jaw forward to help prevent the collapse of soft tissues, so you rest better and avoid symptoms. If you have any questions about our approach to treatment, or about your possible symptoms, then contact our team today.
Smith Family Dentistry in Greenville Treats OSA
At Smith Family Dentistry, our team wants to make sure you don’t suffer a poor quality of life due to sleep disorders. To learn more about addressing these serious disorders, then talk to Dental Sleep Solutions of Greenville by contacting our office at 903-455-0516.