Sleep Apnea

Sleep Disruptions

• Do you wake up with a dry mouth?
• Do you experience irritability?
• Do you wake up gasping for air?
• Do you suffer from excessive sleepiness during the day?
• Do you have frequent morning headaches?
• Have you been told that you snore or stop breathing at night?

• Snoring

  Snoring is caused by narrowing or blocking of the airway. The disruption of airflow causes the soft palate and tissues of the throat to vibrate, and the narrower the airway becomes, the louder the snoring.

• Sleep Apnea

  Sleep apnea is a disorder in which a patient experiences one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breaths during sleep. The sleep disruption caused by sleep apnea can negatively impact your quality of sleep, leaving you tired and irritable.

Treatments

• Lifestyle Changes

  Minor sleep disruptions can often be addressed with lifestyle changes such as weight loss, smoking cessation, or  clearing your nasal passages.

• Sleep Appliances & Breathing Devices

  Many patients that suffer from either sleep disruptions may be able to find relief using a custom removable oral Appliance which adjusts the position of the lower jaw and tongue during sleep. For moderate to severe sleep apnea, a breathing device called a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) may be helpful. A CPAP machine uses a mask that fits over your mouth and/or nose and gently blows air into your throat. This air pressure helps keep your airway open while you sleep.

• Surgery

  For severe sleep apnea, surgery to widen the breathing passages by shrinking, stiffening, or removing excess tissue in the mouth and throat or resetting the lower jaw may be helpful. Surgery to shrink the tissue involves a small shot into the breathing passages. Surgery to stiffen excess tissue requires a small incision in the tissue and the insertion of a piece of stiff plastic.