Do you always snore? Do people you live with complain about your snoring? While many people snore, constant, heavy snoring can be a sign of sleep apnea. Sleep apnea negatively affects your quality of sleep, leading to lingering exhaustion in your waking hours.
At Broadway Dental of Pearland, Dr. Allouch and the caring dental staff provide sleep apnea treatment. With effective treatment, you can snore less and have a better night’s sleep, improving your overall quality of life.
Call our office today to discover more about sleep apnea and how to find relief.
What Is Sleep Apnea?
Sleep apnea is a serious condition that impacts your breathing while you sleep. The issue occurs when you stop breathing at times in your sleep. While your breath will only stop for a brief time before restarting, sleep apnea can still have many detrimental effects.
Sleep apnea is more than just snoring—it is linked to severe problems like diabetes and high blood pressure.
While sleep apnea has many underlying causes, there are treatment options that can alleviate symptoms. It is important to see a dentist or doctor if you suspect you have sleep apnea, as it can decrease your quality of life and cause more serious health issues.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea Explained
Obstructive Sleep apnea is the condition when the person has a partial (or even a complete) airway obstruction during the sleeping cycle.
Sleep apnea is a serious condition that affects millions of people around the world. It is characterized by interruptions in breathing during sleep, which can cause a range of health problems, including high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke.
Some of the signs of sleep apnea are when patients suffer difficulty sleeping or maintaining sleep for a few hours in addition to feeling tired the next morning. It may happen more than once which is pathological and may cause a decrease in oxygen levels in the body. The persistence of this lack of oxygen could lead to respiratory, heart, and brain problems.
Fortunately, there are treatments available that can help manage the symptoms of sleep apnea and improve overall health and well-being.
Sleep Apnea Symptoms
Sleep apnea can affect your health and happiness, but you might not recognize the symptoms at first or you may mistake them for normal tiredness. It is important to know the main indicators of sleep apnea, which include the following:
- Daily fatigue and excess sleepiness
- Loud, persistent snoring
- Waking up during the night and gasping for air or choking
- Headaches in the morning
- Issues focusing during the day
- Dry mouth or sore throat when you wake up
- Feeling moody or irritable
- High blood pressure
If you have these symptoms, consult with Dr. Allouch at Broadway Dental of Pearland, TX, for more information about sleep apnea. Seeking treatment for sleep apnea is crucial. When left untreated, consistent tiredness can make it harder to do daily tasks and also increase your risk for many health problems.
You should especially seek professional help if you wake up gasping for breath or are excessively sleepy during the day.
Do You Have Sleep Apnea?
Before treating your sleep apnea, we use a system called WatchPAT®️ to diagnose sleep apnea. This is an FDA-cleared device that you take home with you. The device is comfortable, and you wear it on your wrist, finger, and chest. The sensors then gather information about your breathing at night.
After reviewing the results of the test, our dental team can find treatment options for you. We primarily offer oral appliances such as mouthguards and tongue-retaining devices. These oral appliances can help keep your airways open and ensure you can breathe correctly while you sleep.
How Is Sleep Apnea Treated?
One of the most common treatments for sleep apnea is the use of a CPAP machine, which helps keep the airway open by delivering a constant stream of air. While CPAP is effective for many patients, some find it uncomfortable or difficult to use, which can lead to non-compliance and ineffective treatment.
For patients who cannot tolerate CPAP, there is an alternative: oral appliance therapy. This involves the use of a custom-fitted oral appliance that is worn during sleep. The appliance works by repositioning the jaw and tongue to keep the airway open, preventing interruptions in breathing and reducing the symptoms of sleep apnea.
Our Sleep Apnea Treatment Options
At our dental office, we specialize in oral appliance therapy for sleep apnea. Our team of experienced dental professionals will work with you to create a custom appliance that fits comfortably and effectively. We use the latest technology and techniques to ensure that your appliance will offer you more comfortable sleep.
How Does an Oral Appliance Treat Sleep Apnea?
The most common oral appliance for sleep apnea is a dental device shaped like a mouthguard. You wear it while you sleep and it keeps your airways open. These devices help hold your mouth in the right position to ensure you get adequate airflow during sleep. This allows you to breathe better and sleep more restfully, with fewer impacts of obstructive sleep apnea.
Types of Oral Appliances to Treat Sleep Apnea
While you can find over-the-counter devices meant to treat sleep apnea, a custom-made option is much more effective.
We recommend coming into our office to learn more about the appliances we make to treat sleep apnea. We can also get you started with a home sleep study, which is the first step in diagnosing sleep apnea and developing a treatment plan.
We provide two main types of sleep apnea devices: mandibular advancement devices and tongue-stabilizing devices. Here’s what you need to know about each:
1. Mandibular Advancement Devices (MAD):
Mandibular advancement devices are the most common oral device to treat obstructive sleep apnea. These appliances work by moving your lower jaw slightly forward during sleep, which causes your tongue to move forward, too. This keeps your tongue from getting in the way of airflow at the back of your throat.
These oral appliances fit over your teeth like a mouthguard except they usually come in two pieces: one for your upper teeth and one for the lower. Hinges or rubber bands connect the two parts, allowing for adjustment.
There are various options for MADs. They can have different sizes and materials. Dr. Allouch and the team will work to find the style of MAD that is most comfortable and effective for you.
2. Tongue Stabilizing Devices (TSD):
While not as common, TSDs, or tongue stabilizing devices, are another option to treat obstructive sleep apnea. They work by moving your tongue forward using suction. A suction bulb in the appliances keeps your tongue in place during sleep. Part of the appliance remains outside of your mouth.
TSDs keep your airway open by moving the tongue forward and clearing the airways. While they aren’t as common, they are a good alternative for some people who can’t use mandibular advancement devices. Patients who don’t have strong enough teeth may need to use a TSD, although MADs are generally more effective.
If you are struggling with sleep apnea and have not found relief with CPAP, we encourage you to consider oral appliance therapy. It is a safe and effective alternative that can help you get the restful, restorative sleep you need to feel your best. Contact us today to schedule a consultation and learn more about how we can help you manage your sleep apnea.
At-Home Sleep Apnea Sleep Study
Have you ever heard of a sleep study? If you have, you probably imagine a medical test where you go into a facility and sleep overnight. These sleep studies are important for many reasons, as they allow doctors to monitor various aspects of your sleep to diagnose concerns.
However, these sleep studies can be inconvenient, expensive, and stressful. You will have to sleep hooked up to many different wires and monitors, which can make it nearly impossible to get a normal sleep.
Luckily, you have a much more convenient, comfortable option. At Broadway Dental of Pearland, we offer an at-home sleep test through the WatchPAT®️ system.
With this test, we can track your sleep to determine if you have sleep apnea, without the hassle of a full sleep study in a hospital.
How the Home Sleep Study Works
The WatchPAT®️ sleep study uses a comfortable, disposable device that you only need to use once. The device itself goes around your wrist like a bracelet, and you place a small piece on your finger and a sensor on your chest.
As you sleep, the device gathers data to determine your breath. It can sense if your breathing is stunted throughout the night. A board-certified sleep doctor will read the results of the home sleep study and provide a report with a diagnosis.
Once you receive a diagnosis, Dr. Allouch will develop a treatment plan for your sleep apnea to provide you with more restful sleep.
Advantages of a Home Sleep Study
While full sleep studies are sometimes necessary, at-home alternatives have become even more popular. In fact, you’ll find many benefits of using the WatchPAT®️ sleep study. Here are just a few of them:
- Cost-Effective: A sleep study in a medical facility can be quite costly, especially if your insurance won’t cover it. With a home sleep study, you can learn if you have sleep apnea for just a fraction of the cost.
- Comfortable: Because you only have to wear one, small device, the at-home option is much more comfortable and less stressful.
- Easy to Use: The at-home device is easy to put on and use. We will give you instructions, but it’s really not complicated.
- Convenient: Sleeping in a healthcare facility or hospital is often stressful. It’s hard to get any sleep there, so the results might not be completely accurate. An at-home study allows you to sleep in the comfort of your own home and bed.
Wondering if you have sleep apnea? A home sleep study is an effective, easy way to diagnose this serious health issue. Reach out to Broadway Dental of Pearland today to learn more.
How Dangerous Is Sleep Apnea?
While fatalities from sleep apnea are rare, they can occur. Sleep apnea also increases the risk of developing many other health problems, especially because it disrupts your sleep.
If left untreated, sleep apnea can increase the risk of:
- Cardiovascular problems
- High blood pressure
- Mental health problems
- Stroke
- Complications from medications and sedation
- Fatigue
It’s important to take sleep apnea seriously, as it can negatively impact your life with destructive symptoms. Even if you don’t see major health impacts at first, the health risks can compound over time. It’s better to seek treatment right away. You may notice an immediate improvement in your quality of life, including having more energy throughout the day.
Risk Factors for Sleep Apnea
While anyone can get obstructive sleep apnea, some things increase your risk of developing this issue. These risk factors include:
- Your age: The older you get, the more likely you are to develop obstructive sleep apnea. However, this appears to level out once you reach your 60s or 70s.
- Smoking: Smoking tobacco can harm your health in many ways and increase your risks of issues like sleep apnea, cancer, and more.
- Your weight: Extra weight can obstruct your breathing. While not all people with sleep apnea are overweight, it is a common risk factor.
- Your gender: Men are around two to three times more likely to get obstructive sleep apnea. However, once women are postmenopausal, the rates are about the same.
- Nasal congestion: No matter the cause, chronic nasal congestion increases the odds of developing sleep apnea. This is likely because nasal congestion blocks airways and makes it harder to breathe in general.
If you have any of these risk factors and have noticed disruptions in your sleep, it’s a good idea to request a sleep study for sleep apnea.
Get the Full Night’s Sleep You Deserve
You don’t have to wake up feeling tired every morning. If you have sleep apnea, finding the right treatment can improve your life and bring you renewed energy. Getting enough sleep is crucial to your health and happiness, so don’t let sleep apnea keep you from living your life to the fullest.
The dental team at Broadway Dental of Pearland can diagnose and treat your sleep apnea to improve your life. We are happy to get you started with a home sleep study.
Contact our friendly team to request an appointment.
Meet the Doctor
Dr. Allouch earned his Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts. He continues his advanced training at the Kois Center in Seattle, WA, which focuses on research-based education. He is part of the elite 6% of general dentists in the U.S. to earn a Fellowship with the Academy of General Dentistry, and he holds an Associate Fellowship with the American Academy of Implant Dentistry. Dr. Allouch specializes in Comprehensive and Implant Dentistry and in enhancing patients’ total health.
