Sleep Apnea
You may not realize that you have sleep apnea because it happens while you’re asleep. One warning sign can be chronic snoring. As throat muscles relax during sleep, surrounding soft tissues can vibrate with each inhalation, causing snoring. While not everyone who snores has sleep apnea, a large proportion of sleep apnea patients do snore.
The syndrome is more common in men than in women & more common in people who are older or overweight. However, that doesn’t mean that younger fit people are not at risk. Recent studies indicate that as many as 1 in 4 Americans are at high risk for sleep apnea. If you suffer from snoring, frequent awakenings or daytime drowsiness even after a “full night’s sleep,” you should strongly consider evaluation by your physician or a sleep specialist. Your general practitioner can diagnose sleep apnea, usually by having you undergo a sleep study.
What Is Sleep Apnea?
Obstructive Sleep Apnea is when your airway becomes blocked while you’re sleeping. This usually occurs when the muscles in your throat relax too much, allowing the tissues of your tongue & throat to temporarily collapse. Even though you’re asleep, your brain reacts to this momentary suffocation & wakes you up just enough to get you breathing again. However, the moment you fully relax again, the pattern of sleep apnea can continue.
This cycle can happen hundreds of times per night & result in disturbed sleep that leaves people feeling drowsy & unrested. Recent studies have also linked sleep apnea to more serious side effects such as cognitive impairment, cardiovascular problems, diabetes, acid reflux & more.
Treating sleep apnea is not just about getting better rest—it’s about protecting long-term health.
Treatment Options
Your primary physician or a sleep medicine specialist is typically the one responsible for diagnosing sleep apnea & prescribing therapy. The standard, most common therapy for sleep apnea is Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), a machine that delivers a pressurized, steady flow of air through a mask, keeping your airway open during sleep. However, as you can imagine, this solution can be uncomfortable & awkward to sleep with, not to mention the sanitation effort that goes into maintaining a breathing machine at home.
The Role of Your Dentist
This is where the role of dentistry enters! As an alternative to the CPAP machine, a non-invasive dental solution that many patients find more comfortable is Oral Appliance Therapy (OAT), which uses specialized dental appliances resembling sports mouthguards that keep the lower jaw in a position that prevents the muscles of your tongue & upper throat from collapsing into your airway. Rather than being strapped into a machine, the patient can simply wear a custom-fitted dental appliance. The oral appliance is portable, quiet, requires no external power source & much less maintenance than CPAP. Plus, not only does it reduce sleep apnea— it also reduces snoring!
There are two main designs: Mandibular Advancement Devices (MADs), which advance the lower jaw & Tongue Retaining Devices (TRDs), which hold the tongue forward to prevent obstruction. Whichever works best for you will depend on your circumstances, usually revealed by the sleep study conducted.
Additional Treatments
As further treatment, there is also the option of Multiwave Locked System (MLS) Laser Therapy. The MLS laser is a non‑invasive, painless treatment that uses synchronized dual wavelengths of light to reduce inflammation, promote tissue healing & relax muscles in the airway soft tissues. The minimized inflammation diminishes discomfort & enhanced relaxation reduces the tension & anxiety that would hinder sleep. This can improve airway patency & complement oral appliance use or reduce symptom severity in milder cases. Typical sessions last just 15–30 minutes & no recovery time is needed after treatment.
Lifestyle modifications are also recommended as supplemental treatment. Depending on relevance, common advice includes weight loss & exercise, optimized dieting & a consistent sleep schedule. Alcohol, smoking or sedatives before bedtime are also discouraged. For some, apnea is worse when lying on their back, so devices or strategies are implemented to prompt side-sleeping.
If you have been diagnosed with sleep apnea (or suspect you may have it), we can work with you & your doctor to come up with a plan for a dental device that will keep you breathing easily through the night. The goal is not just to treat symptoms, but to positively influence long-term wellness.
