What is obstructive sleep apnea?
The last thing patients think of when they think of their dentist is treatment for sleeping disorders. However, dentists have a solution that many patients enjoy, especially when faced with daily CPAP use. Obstructive sleep apnea is a condition that causes patients to stop breathing sometimes hundreds of times each night while they rest. This keeps most patients from reaching that restorative level of sleep they need to feel well-rested each day. This can cause a variety of problems. It can:
- Increase a patient’s risk for heart disease and diabetes
- Cause patients to experience chronic snoring
- Increase depression and anxiety in patients
- Impact one’s memory and decision-making abilities
- Impact day-to-day life due to daytime fatigue
- Increase one’s risk for weight gain and impotency
When patients get a diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea through their physician, they are often told they need to use a CPAP machine at night as a treatment. The CPAP machine is a special headgear with a nose mask that is worn every night while connected to a device that maintains open airways while patients rest. However, a vast majority of patients who are told to use a CPAP machine are often unhappy with its use. They may find the device difficult to travel with, uncomfortable, or cumbersome. Instead, the team at Gallery 57 Dental may suggest using an oral appliance.
Oral appliance therapy for obstructive sleep apnea involves the use of a special mouth guard that opens the airways while being comfortable to wear. The oral appliance is much less intrusive and patients often comply with oral appliance therapy better than they do with CPAP machine use.
Learn more about dental sleep medicine at Gallery 57 Dental
If you live in or around New York, NY and want to speak to a dentist about using an oral appliance to treat obstructive sleep apnea, we encourage you to book an appointment at our practice. We are located at 24 West 57th Street, Ste. 701 and can be reached by phone to schedule a visit at 212.246.8700.