Sleep-Disordered Breathing

Before Oral Appliance Therapy

Narrowed airway, Decreased airflow, Poor Sleep

After Oral Appliance Therapy

Open airway, Increased airflow, Better Sleep

Benefits of Oral Appliance Therapy

  • Permits normal mouth opening and movement
  • Has a warranty against breakages
  • Custom-fitted with patient comfort in mind
  • Allows speech and drinking
  • Are effective, safe and backed by research
  • Clinically validated
  • Allows full lip-closure to decrease mouth breathing
  • Easily adjustable without having to have an office visit

Benefits of Successful Treatment
of Sleep Apnea

  • Deeper, more restful sleep
  • Increased overall energy during the day
  • Increased focus at work and with family
  • Decreased risk for heart attack and stroke
  • Ability to lose weight
  • Increased memory retention
  • Less inflammation
  • Decrease in blood pressure
  • Decreased feelings of depression
  • Less disturbance to your bed partner (e.g. snoring)
  • Improved sex drive

Snoring

The muscles that keep your airway open during the day are relaxed while you sleep. This causes tissue to vibrate along the narrow portions of your airway during your sleep resulting in snoring. Snoring may be one of many signs of serious medical condition called sleep apnea. A diagnosis of snoring often times is referred to as “primary snoring.” Just because you snore does not mean you have sleep apnea and not everyone who has sleep apnea snores. If you snore, you may be high risk for sleep apnea and a sleep study is needed to determine if you have a sleep disordered breathing such as obstructive sleep apnea.

Sleep Apnea

Sleep Apnea is a serious medical condition that results in decreased oxygen reaching the brain due to interruptions in breathing. Each time normal breathing stops, the brain is depleted of oxygen and is unable to send “distress signals” to the muscles in the airway to open. These episodes can last more than 10 seconds and can occur hundreds of times a night even though most people who suffer from sleep apnea do not remember gasping or snorting during the night. As a result, these patients wake up feeling groggy and experience excessive daytime sleepiness along with many other signs and symptoms. Sleep apnea can also lead to or cause high blood pressure, acid reflux, diabetes and many other chronic disease. Studies have shown that sleep apnea affects over 20% over the U.S. population. You may suffer from sleep apnea and not even know it. A sleep study is needed to determine if you have a sleep disordered breathing such as obstructive sleep apnea.

Facts about Sleep Disordered Breathing and Sleep Apnea

  • 40 million Americans suffer from some form of Sleep Disordered Breathing (SDB).
  • Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) may be present in 20-40% of the adult population who snore.
  • As many as ninety percent of people with OSA have not been diagnosed.
  • An individual with untreated apnea is up to four times more likely to have a stroke and 3 times more likely to have heart disease and twice as likely to have hypertension.
  • Studies show that OSA causes hypertension; one study showed that eighty percent of patients with drug-resistant hypertension have OSA.
  • Untreated OSA results in decreased work productivity, resulting in a cost of around $5 billion annually in the US.
  • Approximately three of every four bariatric surgery candidates have OSA.
  • Patients with untreated OSA who undergo anesthesia for surgery are at greater risk for complications during surgery than people without OSA.
  • Weight gain can increase a person’s chances of developing moderate to severe OSA.
  • Patients with undiagnosed and untreated OSA have higher medical costs.
  • People with OSA are six times more likely to have a car crash than those without the disease.
  • Untreated OSA increases the risk of complications and even death from related chronic diseases, such as stroke, heart disease, hypertension and diabetes.
  • Treatment of OSA results in fewer hospitalizations from related diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes.
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