Do I Have Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that causes a person to stop breathing periodically while they are asleep. Apnea, which means “without breath,” is caused by an obstruction in the airway. One of the most common sleep disorders is obstructive sleep apnea, which is caused by a blockage in your airway during sleep. This closure prevents oxygen from reaching your bloodstream. As a result, your brain will signal your body to wake up so that breathing can resume. The condition is also known as obstructive sleep apnea syndrome or OSAS.

Obstructive sleep apnea causes you to stop breathing throughout the night frequently and disrupts your sleep cycle. It also puts pressure on your heart, which can cause heart disease and other complications.

The good news is that many treatment options are available, such as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), oral appliance therapy, surgery, and positional therapy. 

What Are The Symptoms of Sleep Apnea?

You snore loudly at night, keeping everyone awake and interrupting their sleep. Loud snoring is a sign of obstructive and central sleep apnea, which is when your airway becomes blocked or collapses during the night and prevents you from breathing normally. You may also wake up feeling as though you have slept poorly or that your sleep was interrupted throughout the night. You might also experience daytime exhaustion as a result of your poor sleep at night. You may feel drowsy throughout the day as a result because your body and mind are not getting the rest that they need to function at their full potential.

Other signs of obstructive sleep apnea include morning headaches, unexplained weight gain, and a sore throat in the morning. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, then talk to your dentist about your symptoms. Your dentist may recommend an overnight sleep study at a sleep center so that they can test whether or not you suffer from obstructive sleep apnea. If you have been diagnosed with the condition, then they will recommend the best treatment option for you. 

How Is Sleep Apnea Diagnosed?

At your consultation, a sleep specialist will ask about your sleep habits and profile you for symptoms of sleep apnea. Based on your answers and the results of any home sleep studies you may have completed, we can confirm if a diagnosis of sleep apnea is likely for you. They may also recommend an at-home or in-lab sleep study to get a more detailed look at your sleep patterns and breathing patterns, even as you rest at home.

How Is Sleep Apnea Treated?

Medically, dentists treat sleep apnea by helping patients manage their airway obstruction. If a patient is diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea, they may be prescribed a continuous positive airway pressure device or CPAP machine. A CPAP machine is a mask-like device worn over the nose during sleep. This mask is connected to a tube that pumps oxygen into the throat and nasal passageways to keep it open throughout the night. In addition to using a CPAP machine, some patients may also use a mouth guard to prevent jaw clenching and teeth grinding. Mouth guards are appliances worn while you sleep. They are small plastic devices that fit invisibly over your teeth and gently reposition your jaws into a more open position. By preventing you from clenching your jaw, these appliances can reduce the amount of breathing obstructions you experience at night. For severe cases of sleep apnea, surgery might be an option. Patients are generally considered good candidates for surgical treatment if they are overweight and have severe cases of sleep apnea. Surgery may involve removing tissue in the mouth and reducing the size of the soft palate in the back of the throat. Both of these procedures help enlarge the airway passages and reduce snoring while sleeping.

For more information about sleep apnea, visit Englewood Dentistry at 334 Grand Ave, Englewood 07631, or call (201) 541-8111.