Have you ever heard about obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)? A common disorder that impacts millions, this could interrupt your ability to sleep and leave you exhausted, and over time, impact your immune system and heart health. In today’s blog, your Greenville, TX, dentist will explain how sleep apnea occurs.
Risk Factors
The disorder means that as you sleep at night, certain soft tissues in the back of your mouth and within your throat becomes too relaxed and collapses, which blocks airflow and causes you to stop breathing for brief moments. While you may not remember this happening, it interrupts your sleep cycle dozens of times each hour in some cases, leaving you exhausted and impacting your overall health. Risk factors include obesity, excessive alcohol consumption, resting on your back, large neck circumference, or sinus or allergy issues. A deviated septum could be a factor as well. While the disorder could impact teens and adults of all ages and genders, men ages 55 and older tend to be at a higher risk.
Warning Signs
How do you know when you should contact a sleep expert for treatment? Your significant other may notice that you snore nightly, or you could find yourself waking up suddenly gasping for air or choking. Waking several times, having trouble going to sleep or getting up, dry mouth, and headaches are common too. You may feel exhausted during the day even if you believe you rested well the night before, and you could be moody and have trouble focusing on tasks at work or school. If one or more of these potential warning signs sounds familiar, then let us know. With our sleep assessment and home sleep test, we can offer a diagnosis with accuracy and precision, discovering whether you need treatment and starting you on the oath to a better night’s rest!
Treatment Options
You may assume we rely on the CPAP machine to ensure proper airflow and better rest. However, we know that while effective, the machine is loud, cumbersome, and people often forgo its use. Instead, we offer a more comfortable and convenient alternative. With a sleep appliance, we create and custom-fit a device that fits like mouthguard. Designed using digital scans of your smile and worn as you rest, the device then repositions the jaw to prevent the collapse of soft tissues, so you once again breathe nightly without interruption. If you have any questions, then please give us a call!
Smith Family Dentistry in Greenville Offers a Sleep Solution
At Smith Family Dentistry, we’re ready to create a custom device to improve your ability to sleep. To learn more about how we treat a common disorder like OSA, then talk to Dental Sleep Solutions of Greenville by contacting our office at 903-455-0516.