Snoring and Sleep Apnea:

What is Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea is a condition in which breathing stops periodically during sleep, as many as 100 times per hour! (“Apnea” is the Greek word for “without breath.”) If you suffer from sleep apnea, each time your breathing stops, the resulting lack of oxygen alerts your brain, which temporarily wakes you up to restart proper breathing. Because the time spent awake is so brief, most people with sleep apnea don’t remember it - and may think they are getting a good night’s sleep. However, the constant wake-sleep-wake-sleep cycle interrupts the deep sleep that refreshes the body, and sufferers are frequently drowsy during the day.

What are the signs of sleep apnea?

Click here to take a quiz to assess your chance of having sleep apnea.

Snoring

Snoring is the sound of obstructed breathing during sleep. While snoring can be harmless (benign snoring), it can also be the sign of a more serious medical condition which progresses from upper airway resistance syndrome (UARS) to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)

What causes snoring?

Snoring occurs when the structures in the throat are large and when the muscles relax enough to cause the airway to narrow and partially obstruct the flow of air. As air tries to pass through these obstructions, the throat structures vibrate causing the sound we know as snoring. Large tonsils, a long soft palate and uvula and excess fat deposits contribute to soft tissue narrowing.

Oral Appliance Therapy treats sleep apnea and snoring

Restful sleep is vital to emotional and physical well being. Sleep quality affects moods, energy, job performance, marriages- and overall health and happiness.

You deserve a great night’s sleep. Undiagnosed or untreated sleep apnea causes daytime fatigue - leading to drowsy driving and highway fatalities. Poor sleep can also increase hypertension and cardiac abnormalities, and has been linked to inflammation chronic inflammatory diseases, high cholesterol and diabetes.

Oral Appliance Therapy: a successful, noninvasive solution

Treating sleep apnea has traditionally been limited to continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP). But, many people are unable to sleep soundly with CPAP because they cannot tolerate the mask and related pressure. Another alternative, surgery, only has about a 50% success rate. That’s why more people are choosing Oral Appliance Therapy.

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