Don’t Let Sleep Apnea Ruin Another Night’s Rest

If you suffer from nightly snoring, you may get whacked on the head with your partner’s pillow whenever your chorus of snores reaches a crescendo. While this scenario might seem slightly comical (unless you’re the one doing the whacking), nightly snoring is no laughing matter to Dr. Joy at East Portland Dentistry. Snoring is often a sign of obstructive sleep apnea, a serious medical condition that can cause poor mental health, learning and memory problems, sexual dysfunction, compromised immune system, and stroke and cardiovascular disease; all of which are cause for alarm.

A sleep-related breathing disorder, obstructive sleep apnea causes a narrowing or blockage of the airways in the nose, mouth or throat. When these airways become obstructed, it causes a stoppage or slowing of your breathing for between 10 to 30 seconds, occasionally even longer. Naturally, your body reacts to the decrease of oxygen by jarring you awake. This cycle of sleep to awake can continue dozens of times throughout the night. This results in a lack of you falling into deep, or REM, sleep, which the body needs for you to feel fully rested.

Without proper sleep, you have a higher risk of suffering from symptoms that include excessive daytime sleepiness, exhaustion, headaches and depression. When left untreated, you increase your risk for the host of chronic health issues mentioned above. Our team at East Portland Dentistry can help you control snoring and obstructive sleep apnea to lower your risk of poor mental and physical health.

At our Portland dentistry practice, our team has the knowledge and experience needed to help you deal with this potentially serious health issue. Snoring and obstructive sleep apnea are common disorders: 80 million Americans or more snore, and over 40 million Americans have diagnosed obstructive sleep apnea. You are not alone. If your sleep partner has mentioned that you snore, choke, gasp, gurgle or grind your teeth during sleep you need to schedule a sleep apnea consultation with our dentists at East Portland Dentistry. These are symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea and could cause serious long-term health consequences if ignored.

At East Portland Dentistry, we can fit you with a removable device designed to open obstructed oral airways during sleep. The device moves the lower jaw and tongue forward during sleep, creating more space for proper breathing. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends the oral devices that we fit you with at our Portland sleep dentistry office. Our patients like that their oral devices are easily portable, fit entirely in the mouth, require no electricity, produce no noise and do not restrict them to a single sleep position. If you are currently using or have used a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine to treat obstructive sleep apnea and dislike or cannot tolerate CPAP for whatever reason, we encourage you to discuss oral appliances with our Portland dentists.

Save yourself a whack in the head from your disgruntled sleep partner. Reduce or eliminate both the short and long-term effects of snoring and obstructive sleep apnea with a comfortable, unobtrusive oral appliance. You and your partner will sleep better thanks to scheduling a sleep apnea consultation with East Portland Dentistry. Don’t sleep on it! Schedule your appointment today.