Get a Restful Sleep
with Our Sleep Apnea Treatments
Sleep apnea is much more than just loud snoring throughout the night. This dental issue can harm your ability to get restful sleep and even increase your risk of high blood pressure, stroke, and heart attacks. Signs that you may have sleep apnea include: jerking awake with a gasp, incessant snoring, and severe headaches and migraines, particularly when you first wake up. If you notice these signs in yourself or a loved one, contact our Fort Mill family dentists today to get treatment.
Our Life-Changing
Sleep Apnea Treatments
There are several different treatment options that Dr. Luck may suggest for sleep apnea. In some cases, it may simply be recommended that patients make several lifestyle changes, such as exercising, losing weight or sleeping on their back instead of their side or stomach.
Oral appliances are the most common treatment for patients with mild cases of sleep apnea. These appliances, which are shaped like a mouthguard or retainer, help strengthen and reposition the muscles and tissue in the mouth and palate, preventing tissue relaxation. Give us a call today to set up a consultation to see which option will work best for you.
The Health Risks
of Untreated Sleep Apnea
If left untreated, sleep apnea can become a serious health problem. Sleep apnea is much more than just loud snoring throughout the night. This condition can harm your ability to get restful sleep and even increase your risk of high blood pressure, stroke, and heart attacks. This dental health issue is caused by the soft tissues in the mouth, palate and throat relaxing during sleep. When this happens, the tissue may “fall,” and block the airway temporarily.
This often causes breathing to be cut off for 10 seconds or more, and also causes severe snoring. Airflow to the lungs is restricted, which can cause blood to become poorly oxygenated, leading to a variety of different physical symptoms. If you notice signs of sleep apnea in yourself or a loved one, contact our team at Luck Family Dental today to go over your treatment options.
Signs That You Need
A Mouthguard For Sleep Apnea
Mouthguards, also called “oral appliances,” are specially-designed devices that help improve sleep apneas by shifting the position of your jaw and teeth. This, in turn, stops the tissue of your upper palate and throat from sagging into your airway and blocking your breathing.
Wondering if a mouthguard for sleep apnea from Luck Family Dental is right for you? It’s important to be on the lookout for the signs of obstructive sleep apnea. If you recognize a lot of these signs, you may need to see a sleep specialist to get a diagnosis, and work with a dentist like Dr. Leah R. Luck to get a custom-built mouthguard for sleep apnea.
First, snoring is a very common sign of sleep apnea, and is often noticed by your sleeping partner before you notice any other signs. Heavy snoring accompanied by snorting or choking sounds is a very likely indicator of apnea. You may also wake up with a dry mouth or a sore throat.
You may also notice that you have a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep, and feel excessively drowsy or tired, even after getting a full 7-8 hours of sleep or more. This is because sleep apnea reduces your overall sleep quality.
Sleep apnea can also negatively impact your mood and overall state of mind. You may feel more irritable or become upset easily. Your libido may also be negatively affected by sleep apnea.
Can Sleep Apnea
Be Cured Completely?
Yes. Sleep apnea can be managed in a lot of different ways, and with appropriate lifestyle changes and treatment, you may be able to completely “cure” the condition. The proper treatment routine depends on your specific situation.
For example, you may need a mouthguard for sleep apnea, and your doctor may also recommend other lifestyle changes that will help eliminate sleep apnea.
For example, weight loss is a very common recommendation. Losing weight can help relieve constriction of the throat and reduce the size of some oral tissue, reducing the severity of sleep apnea. Regular exercise has also been shown to help reduce sleep apnea, even without weight loss.
Your doctor may also recommend sleeping on your side or abdomen, rather than on your back. This helps prevent tissue from sagging into your airway. Your doctor may also recommend that you quit smoking, and that you avoid alcohol and sedative medications like sleeping pills.
There are also some surgical treatments that can be used to treat sleep apnea and cure it, such as surgery to alter the position of your jaw or surgery to remove excess tissue from your mouth and throat. These are usually only used when all other treatments fail, however.
It’s also important to note that while obstructive sleep apnea can sometimes be completely eliminated, that’s not always the case, especially for more severe cases of sleep apnea that require a CPAP machine. We recommend working closely with your physician, a sleep specialist, and a dentist to manage your sleep apnea and make sure that it’s under control.
Noticing Signs of Sleep Apnea?
Call Luck Family Dental
Sleep apnea can be treated effectively with oral appliances, but some extreme cases can only be cured with orthognathic surgery. At Luck Family Dental, we will start with non-invasive treatment before we suggest surgery or irreversible options. Give us a call today at (803) 548-6370 to discuss your treatment options.