When you have sleep apnea, and suffer from daytime drowsiness or chronic snoring, then you need treatment. Instead of a CPAP machine, our team will offer a more comfortable and simple alternative. In today’s blog, your Livonia, MI, dentist talks about how an oral appliance can help you sleep better and avoid sleep apnea symptoms.
The Causes and Risks of Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea can be caused by an array of factors, a few of which include a large neck circumference, obesity, sleeping on your back, excessive alcohol consumption, and sinus and allergy issues. A deviated septum could also be a factor. Essentially, as you rest the soft tissues in the rear of your mouth and in the throat become overly relaxed and collapse, which causes you to stop breathing briefly until the brain registers a drop in oxygen and wakes you. You may wake gasping for air or choking, and can experience chronic snoring too. Over time, these constant interruptions, most of which you won’t remember, can lead to exhaustion.
When to Seek an Assessment and Diagnosis
Warning signs could include snoring and waking suddenly choking in the night as we mentioned above. But you could also experience dry mouth, headaches, moodiness, issues concentrating on tasks at work or school, and daytime drowsiness. Issues with memory are common too. You need treatment as over time, this can strain your immune system and heart health, leaving you vulnerable to serious complications in your daily life. Our team will offer a sleep assessment to examine your risk factors, and may suggest an at-home sleep test or a sleep study to obtain a diagnosis with precision. From there, we can decide the best treatment option.
Oral Appliance Therapy
Our team will often take detailed digital images and measurements of your smile to create a 3D model and custom-fit an oral appliance. The device looks and fits like a mouthguard, and is worn at night. Once in place, this moves the jaw and tongue forward to keep airways open and free of obstructions. You can easily clean and store the device, and it can travel with you too. This helps you avoid sleep interruptions and breathe without complication, so you wake feeling more rested and refreshed the next day. If you have any questions about how we diagnose and treat issues like sleep apnea, then contact our team today to learn more. You deserve a good night’s rest and a better quality of life!
SCHEDULE YOUR APPOINTMENT WITH DR. STEWART
We want to help you sleep without difficulty by improving how you breathe at night. To start your journey to a good night’s rest again, schedule an appointment with Dr. Stewart in Livonia, MI today at 734-425-4400.
