Understanding Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is a common sleep disorder characterized by interruptions in breathing during sleep. These pauses, known as apneas, can occur multiple times throughout the night, leading to disrupted sleep patterns and a range of health issues.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)
Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when the muscles around the back of your throat relax too much when you sleep. When this happens, your throat has a harder time allowing air flow to your lungs. When your body has a harder time breathing throughout the night, nightly sleep habits become more depleting instead of relaxing for your body.
Dentistry can often treat obstructive sleep apnea, also known as OSA. Most patients we encounter tend to deal with this form of sleep apnea.
Recognizing Sleep Apnea Concerns
Many people recognize sleep apnea from snoring complications. However, there are plenty of other conditions that lead to sleep apnea. Here are some common symptoms:
Loud and persistent snoring
Sometimes your wisdom teeth grow in crooked. These are called impacted wisdom teeth. Your body tends to treat impacted wisdom teeth like a foreign item in your mouth. This condition often leads to serious tooth infections, toothaches, and gum pain.
Wisdom teeth removal will even out your smile and help to reduce the swelling caused by impaction. Most patients will recover from impacted teeth in under two weeks.
Pauses in breathing
Wisdom teeth can cause crowding in the mouth, leading to alignment issues with other teeth. Removal may be advised to maintain proper dental alignment. Prompt treatment can result in reducing the need for orthodontic treatment or tooth damage in the years to come.
Even minimal misaligned teeth can make it difficult to perform daily functions. Wisdom teeth tend to affect the back molars the most. These molars are often the teeth that put in the most effort breaking up foods you eat throughout the day.
Morning headaches
Persistent pain, discomfort, or swelling around the wisdom teeth may indicate the need for removal to alleviate these symptoms. Persistent pain can also lead to your teeth becoming more sensitive to cold or hot foods and beverages.
This pain is caused by the growth location and the direction of your wisdom teeth. Wisdom teeth are inconveniently present in the back of your teeth where gum nerves are more sensitive. Many patients also find their wisdom teeth grow at an angle that pushes on neighboring teeth, causing the nerves surrounding other teeth to flare up.
Difficulty concentrating
Wisdom teeth are susceptible to infection due to their hard-to-reach location. If you have an infected tooth, removal may be necessary to prevent the risk of infection spreading. Infections caused by wisdom teeth usually affect your teeth or your gums.
Late-stage oral infection can lead to missing and loose teeth as well as gum disease. Gum disease reduces the amount of bone growth around your jawline, which significantly impacts your appearance and your ability to speak and chew normally.
Keep Sleep Apnea Under Control
It may be tempting to disregard sleep apnea symptoms when they first arise. However, these symptoms can cause troublesome damage to your general health if left untreated. You may experience your health decline in these areas:
Cardiovascular Issues
Sleep apnea is associated with an increased risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, and strokes. Oxygen, through a chemical process in your heart, is essential to provide energy and power to your heart. The lack of oxygen supply through a long sleep schedule eventually causes the heart to lack sustainability on its own.
Additional cardiovascular conditions may also include type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and liver disease. Sleep apnea treatment is a logical way to make strides for your physical health and reduce the risk of serious health complications later in life.
Compromised Immune Function
Sleep apnea can weaken the immune system, making it harder for the body to fight off infections and other illnesses. A steady flow of oxygen helps turn the food you eat into energy. When sleep apnea inhibits that ability, your body is forced to use your immune system to help you go about your day.
If you are dealing with any of these conditions, give our office a call to schedule an appointment. Though sleep physicians are the only ones who can diagnose the condition, our dentists can help you identify symptoms and connect you with the resources needed for relief to happen.
Daytime Fatigue
It’s no secret that poor sleep makes it difficult to go on with the rest of your day, but many people don’t consider the blatant opportunity cost it causes. In the busy world that we live in, any minute that we can get with our loved ones is so important. With sleep apnea treatment, you can be more present during the day and with your loved ones.
Being more alert can positively impact your day-to-day interactions at work, with your family, and with everyone you meet.
Mood Disorders
Sleep apnea has been linked to mood disorders, including depression and anxiety. As your family in dentistry, we want to help improve your overall health as well as your dental health.
In a sea of familial, financial, and physical responsibilities we want to help you get the rest you need with sleep apnea treatment. Not only will your physical health improve, but your mental health might see improvements as you receive higher-quality rest following treatment.
Dental Treatment for Sleep Apnea
Recruiting a team of dentists and sleep physicians is a powerful way to fight back against sleep apnea and to properly diagnose the condition. Benage Dental Care works hand-in-hand with sleep professionals to ensure top-quality care that is personalized to your needs.
Sleep apnea treatment at Benage Dental Care offers many benefits:
- At-home: Our patients can undergo at-home sleep tests, providing a more relaxed and natural sleep environment.
- Cost-effective: These at-home tests are convenient to use and don’t require the use of sleep centers, saving you flexibility and peace of mind.
- Flexible: Sleep apnea treatment devices from the dentist are usually portable, making them easy to travel with or put away when guests arrive.
- Professional: Involving the dentist with sleep apnea improves the overall treatment and provides a balanced view of the condition from multiple angles.
Efficiency Is Our Priority
Sleep apnea has been linked to mood disorders, including depression and anxiety. As your family in dentistry, we want to help improve your overall health as well as your dental health.
In a sea of familial, financial, and physical responsibilities we want to help you get the rest you need with sleep apnea treatment. Not only will your physical health improve, but your mental health might see improvements as you receive higher-quality rest following treatment.
A High Standard of Sleep Apnea Care
Drs. AnneMarie and Mark Benage understand that your time in the treatment stage is valuable. Benage Dental Care offers a variety of sleep apnea treatments so that you can find the perfect option for you.
You’re more than just an appointment slot here at Benage Dental Care—our goal is to treat each of our customers like family members. We’re proud to make an impact in the Cleburne community, and here’s how we do so with sleep apnea treatment.
In-Office Screening
In addition to at-home sleep tests, we offer in-office screening to assess and monitor your sleep health. Our advanced screening tools help identify potential sleep apnea issues, allowing for timely intervention and personalized treatment plans.
Benage Dental Care emphasizes the value of involving the patient as much as we can through the treatment process. With the help of dental technology, we can help the patient visualize the extent of their sleep apnea and create plans together to minimize its effects.
At-Home Sleep Tests
We will start sleep apnea care by first analyzing your sleep to help a sleep physician properly diagnose and understand the causes of your apnea. The at-home test is a comprehensive tool that monitors key sleep parameters, offering valuable insights into your sleep patterns.
This test will measure your breathing and oxygen saturation levels to properly diagnose you with sleep apnea. Most sleep apnea tests will often require about a night’s worth of results to get the information they need to treat your condition. The specific details of the test will depend on your condition, which we will discuss during your first appointment.
Expert Diagnostic Process
Once you’ve completed the at-home sleep test, our team sends it out for expert diagnosis. This thorough, expert evaluation ensures accurate results, guiding our treatment recommendations as we address any identified sleep apnea issues.
Sleep physicians are necessary to properly diagnose sleep apnea and provide as many resources as possible for your needs. We will also take into account your medical history and complete a physical examination to make decisions regarding your care.
Customized Sleep Devices
Benage Dental Care specializes in crafting custom sleep devices designed to alleviate sleep apnea symptoms. Many individuals may not need these devices, but we will determine your eligibility for these devices during the initial sleep tests.
These devices are personalized to your unique oral anatomy, promoting proper airflow and reducing the risk of airway obstruction during sleep. This device typically shifts either your jaw or tongue just forward enough for oxygen to make its way through your system.
Our team will determine which sleep apnea treatment methods and tools work best for your needs. Our oral appliance tools are often shaped similarly to sports mouthguards. They consist of two retainers (one to fit your top and bottom teeth) connected by metal hinges that will be adjusted on the width of your jawline.
Follow-Up Visits
During your treatment, we will consistently evaluate, analyze, and make changes to your treatment as needed. Our team of dental and sleep professionals will work tirelessly to help you get a great night’s sleep.
Many patients find that their sleep apnea has been cured or symptoms reduced in around 2–6 months of treatment. The treatment time will widely depend on the severity of the condition and the results of the sleeping tests. We may need an additional sleep study as dictated by sleep physicians.
Reducing Sleep Apnea Risks
Patients who have had a loved one deal with sleep apnea or have genetic ties to the condition ask what they can do to reduce the development of sleep apnea. Sleep apnea often stems from these core factors:
- Age: The risk of sleep apnea increases exponentially as you age. Be aware of sleep apnea symptoms in elderly friends and family.
- Weight: Maintaining a healthy weight is a very practical way to reduce the risk of sleep apnea. Oral health can also be improved by exercise and a healthy diet.
- Medical history: Patients who’ve dealt with chronic congestion or thyroid problems tend to develop sleep apnea later on in life.
