Sleep Apnea Treatment
Paradise Valley, AZ
What is Sleep Apnea?
Sleep apnea is caused by blocked airways, leading to pauses and interruptions in breathing. Snoring and sleep apnea are remarkably common problems that affect a surprisingly large segment of the population.
As many as 20 million Americans may suffer from this sleep disorder, with 80-90% of them being undiagnosed. According to the Wisconsin Cohort Sleep Study results, nine percent of women and twenty-four percent of men had apnea, making it as common a health problem as diabetes in North America.
If you have symptoms of a possible sleep disorder, particularly sleep apnea, Dr. Moyer and his dental team will help you evaluate it properly, and treat it. We can do this with the help of oral appliance therapy that is best for you.
Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, or CPAP, delivered through machines such as masks and cushions, helps to manage sleep apnea. CPAP machines help relieve this problem by physically delivering air to the individual's system through oral tubes, masks and nasal pillows and similar CPAP appliances designed for this purpose.
Oral appliances also include a category of tools called dental devices. Detailed diagnostic sleep studies on each patient must be done before treatment commences to determine the nature and severity of their condition precisely. The results of the sleep study are then reviewed by Dr. Moyer and our team at David R. Moyer, DDS, who will then determine and prescribe an appropriate form of therapy for you.
How Can Oral Appliance Therapy Help?
Oral appliances can prove to be a great help as they deliver air directly and continuously, not letting a pause occur in your breathing. Since this is the final aim of CPAP therapy, oral appliances can help adaptability towards treatment, adherence, and compliance.
Dental devices are oral appliances that work through controlling jaw and tongue movements that block the airways. When fitted by our skilled professionals, these devices control movements inside the mouth that could otherwise cause physical obstructions to the passageways which then lead to interrupted breathing and obstructive sleep apnea.
What Is Sleep Apnea and What Are the Risks?
Sleep apnea is a disorder where breathing pauses or stops briefly during sleep creating a lack of oxygenated blood. Many people who snore also suffer from sleep apnea, although most do not realize it.
Apneas, which are the actual pauses when breathing stops, can last anywhere from ten seconds to minutes at a time and may occur five to thirty times per hour during sleep.
There are three types of sleep apnea: obstructive, central, and mixed.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) occurs when the airway is physically blocked with soft tissue from the back of the throat. Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common type of apnea, and people who are overweight or obese who snore are at a higher risk of having OSA.
This condition is dangerous because of the symptoms. It can increase the risk of high blood pressure, insomnia, mood disorders, irregular heartbeat, heart attack, heart failure, stroke, obesity, and diabetes. It can also cause daytime sleepiness and lower awareness during every day activities like driving, which can be dangerous to you and others.
Central apnea occurs when the brain does not signal the muscles in the airway to breathe. Mixed apnea is a combination of both.
Oral Appliances for the Treatment of Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is a frightening disease because those with this disorder literally stop breathing in their sleep. Treatment is obviously necessary because this is something that, left untreated, could lead to death.
Numerous treatments exist, but many people do not know that dental treatment for this condition has a very high success rate. People, instead, often go to their primary care doctors for treatment.
Oral appliance therapy involves placing devices into the mouth to prevent obstructive apnea. The appliances are like retainers, Invisalign for teeth straightening or the mouthguards used in sports.
Therapy involves selecting, designing, fitting and using a custom-designed oral device that is worn while sleeping. The appliance is designed to keep the airway open and unobstructed.
There are many different oral appliances available. The FDA has approved over 40 different devices for use to treat sleep disorders, including apnea. Oral appliances can be used alone or in concert with other treatments. Other treatments can include overall general health, weight loss, surgery or CPAP.
Oral appliances work in many different ways to improve sleep disorders. First, they act to reposition different parts of the mouth. This keeps the tissue in the soft palate and the uvula from blocking the airway. Secondly, the device stabilizes the lower jaw and tongue. Thirdly, the appliance increases the muscle one of the tongue.
One such device to recently come onto the market is the Moses Device. It boasts to be one of the most effective oral appliances out there to help with snoring and sleep apnea.
Seek Help for Your Sleep Apnea
It is important to see our trained professionals in oral appliance therapy. They will be familiar with the different types of devices.
Our trained professionals can decide which treatment and device type are right for you. Our professionals will then work as a team with the physician for diagnosis, treatment and on-going care.
Determining a course of treatment can only be made with joint consultation from our Paradise Valley professionals. Oral Appliance Therapy can take weeks or months to implement. Our professionals will continue to monitor the treatment and evaluate the response of the mouth.
In addition to oral appliance therapy, our trained professionals can evaluate a surgical option as well. These professionals can treat obstructive apnea with minimally invasive procedures and complex surgeries, including jaw advancement.
Schedule an Appointment for Sleep Apnea Treatment
For more information, and to find out how you can benefit from oral appliance therapy in order to treat your sleep apnea, call David R. Moyer, DDS at 480.935.6295 today! |
