Sleep Apnea

A Treatable Sleep Disorder

Radiant Dental treats many Bolingbrook residents who suffer from sleep apnea, a common sleep disorder. Sleep apnea is diagnosed when someone sleeping stops breathing momentarily, then gasps for air. Apneas are defined as pauses in breathing that last 10 seconds or longer; a shorter one is called a hypopnea. This is most often caused by your airway becoming blocked during sleep; this is known as obstructive sleep apnea. If you have sleep apnea, you will most likely have many apneas each night. However, since sleep apneas happen while you’re sleeping, it can be hard to diagnose yourself. Maybe you don’t feel rested when you wake up, get sleepy during the day, and have never known why.

During an apnea, the level of oxygen in the blood falls, so the brain can’t get the air it needs. This compromises REM sleep, which ought to be deeply restful. Sleep apnea can leave people with daytime fatigue, but it also leaves people more prone to a range of other health problems. Research suggests an association between sleep apnea and heart attacks, cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, memory loss and brain damage. When seeking sleep apnea treatments, patients have a number of options. The most popular therapy is a CPAP machine; the breathing mask gives continuous positive air pressure all night long. However, some patients choose splint therapy, deciding they would prefer a nightguard to a sleep mask. Only in the most severe cases might we consider sleep apnea surgery.

But treatment can sometimes be refreshingly simple. People with mild sleep apnea may be able to triumph over the sleep disorder by making some straightforward lifestyle changes. These include avoiding alcohol and tobacco, doing breathing exercises, losing weight, and sleeping at an angle, on one’s side, or with a sleep apnea pillow.

What Keeps You From Breathing At Night

Obstructive sleep apnea, also known as OSA, is the most common type of sleep apnea. OSA is characterized by breathing passages being momentarily obstructed during sleep, leading to gasping and skipped breaths. The person tries to inhale but cannot get any oxygen since the airway is blocked.

Seeking obstructive sleep apnea treatment can improve your overall health, but that’s not all. There’s another real benefit of sleep apnea treatment, and that’s treating snoring. If your husband or wife snores, you know just what a prize that would be. Research suggests that snoring treatment can actually improve the quality of a marriage! Not everyone who snores suffers from sleep apnea. On the other hand, people with sleep apnea almost always snore. Snoring is just the rumbling sound of breathing, and it’s not a health problem in and of itself. Sleep apnea, however, is sleep disordered breathing, and it can have negative health consequences.

Treatment options include lifestyle changes, CPAP breathing machines, and oral appliance therapy. Only in the most serious situations, when other treatments have failed, is sleep apnea surgery considered. Surgery removes the oral and throat tissue that block the airway.

Snoring and Fatigue

Sleep apnea treatment starts with a diagnosis. You may notice some of your sleep apnea symptoms, but there are others you can’t see yourself. Snoring is frequently an indicator of sleep apnea, but you may not know you snore unless a sleeping partner tells you so. Gasping and skipping breaths while sleeping is clear evidence of sleep apnea. Again, you can’t observe your own behavior while you sleep, but a partner may notice it. In fact, if you have sleep apnea, you will stop breathing for 10 seconds or longer at a time while you sleep. These pauses in breathe can startle or scare others, but your sleeping self will be unaware of any breathing problems.

However, there are other symptoms of sleep apnea that may be more obvious to you. Restless sleep, feeling tired when you wake, and getting sleepy during the day can all result from sleep apnea. It can also lead to grouchiness, fatigue and depression.

Snoring May Indicate Sleep Apnea

Though most people in Illinois might not think of seeing a dentist for snoring, it turns out that dentists can effectively treat sleep disorders like sleep apnea, which is often the cause of snoring.

A snore is the rumbling sound of air traveling through a partially obstructed airway. When the airway becomes fully obstructed, you get obstructive sleep apnea. This breathing disorder is characterized by pauses in breathing that last at least 10 seconds, followed by gasping.

By itself, snoring isn’t a health risk. Sleep apnea, on the other hand, genuinely is. When you skip breaths, your blood oxygen levels plummet. This can damage your brain and body, Sleep apnea ups your risk of various health problems, including stroke, heart attack, and memory loss.

Before a dentist can cure snoring, he or she needs to determine the cause. Sleep apnea treatment helps patients breathe smoothly all night long, and it has the delightful side benefit of reducing or eliminating snoring.

Snoring May Indicate Sleep Apnea

Though most people in Illinois might not think of seeing a dentist for snoring, it turns out that dentists can effectively treat sleep disorders like sleep apnea, which is often the cause of snoring.

A Popular Sleep Apnea Treatment

The top treatment for sleep apnea, many people in Illinois have found relief with CPAP. This machine uses a breathing machine to provide continuous positive air pressure all night long; all you do is breathe through a sleep mask. CPAP allows you to breathe normally throughout the night. That means that you sleep more soundly, snore less, and feel more rested and refreshed the next day.

The CPAP machine itself is relatively small. There are different types of CPAP masks; some cover both the nose and mouth, others just the nose. We’ll help you find a CPAP mask that is comfortable for you, and we’ll ensure that it fits properly. If it doesn’t, you won’t have a good seal, and the pressurized air may escape before it ever reaches your lungs.

That is part of the reason why the FDA regulates CPAP machines. CPAP treatment requires a prescription. Some types of CPAP machines include a computer that monitors your breathing at night. We can then review this information to learn more about your sleeping patterns and how well your sleep apnea treatment is working. And even if CPAP isn’t right for you, we can discuss other breathing machines and sleep apnea therapies.