sleep apnea treatment

Sleep Apnea Myths: What’s The Real Deal?

March 29, 2016

If you’ve ever slept next to snorer you know how unpleasant it can be. If you’ve never slept next to a snorer then we have bad news: it’s probably you!

All joking aside, chronic snoring is a serious problem that you should be worried about. If you habitually and loudly snore there’s a good possibility you’re suffering from sleep apnea, a serious condition that causes your breathing to stop while you sleep. These episodes are called apneas, and can occur multiple times a night.

We see a lot of sleep apnea patients at Really Smile Dentistry, and many of them are confused about what sleep apnea is. There’s plenty of bad information out there about this horrible condition, and we want to take the time to give you the facts about it before you end up doing yourself serious harm!

Myth: Sleep Apnea Only Happens To Overweight People

Let’s make one thing very clear: sleep apnea is a condition that definitely affects far more obese people than those at a healthy weight. It doesn’t mean that it can’t affect people who are completely healthy, though!

Plenty of healthy people suffer from sleep apnea because the cause is simply airway blockage. Apneic episodes can happen because of excess tissue surrounding your airway, be it fat or muscle tissue. You can also suffer from the condition if you smoke, drink excessively, suffer from diabetes, or a variety of other health conditions. Don’t think that just because you’re in shape you can’t develop sleep apnea!

Myth: Sleep Apnea Is Annoying, But Doesn’t Have Many Serious Risks

We hear this one a lot – many patients assume that sleep apnea only causes obnoxious snoring and maybe some daytime fatigue if your sleep gets interrupted. Not true at all!

Sleep apnea patients suffer from a number of health conditions and increased risks. If you have sleep apnea you are far more likely to have a heart attack, hypertension, stroke, a fatigue-related accident at work, home, or on the road, and many other conditions.

Sleep apnea disturbs your body’s ability to regulate oxygen flow and puts serious strain on your heart. The damage it causes is cumulative, so your risks only increase over time!

Myth: If You Snore You Have Sleep Apnea

Does everyone with a headache suffer from migraines? No, and it’s the same for sleep apnea: snoring is a symptom that indicates there may be a problem – it isn’t a diagnosis by itself. In order to determine if you have sleep apnea you have to go through a sleep test that monitors your breathing, heart rate, and other biological signs. A single night of data is enough to tell whether or not you have a problem.

Occasional snoring, even loudly, isn’t a definite sign of sleep apnea, but it can serve as a warning. If you are regularly told about your loud, constant snoring it’s probably a good idea to think about a sleep apnea test!

Myth: The Only Treatment For Sleep Apnea Is A CPAP Machine

CPAP, or continuous positive airway pressure, is a tried and true solution for sleep apnea patients. Many people don’t like wearing a face mask that forces pressurized air down their windpipes while they sleep, however, and it’s completely understandable!

While CPAP machines are almost guaranteed to work they aren’t the only solution. We’re proud to be able to offer less invasive oral appliances for sleep apnea at our Carmel office. These easy-to-wear mouthpieces can alleviate snoring and sleep apnea so that you get a restful AND quiet night of sleep.

Once we know for sure that you suffer from sleep apnea we can recommend a variety of oral appliances to treat you. We custom build your oral appliance from an impression of your mouth, making them fit perfectly, comfortably, and easily.

If you’ve tried CPAP treatment in the past, feel it wouldn’t be right for you, or would prefer a simpler alternative then oral appliance therapy is a great choice. We’d be happy to help you put an end to your sleep apnea symptoms and the risk they pose, so don’t hesitate to start on the road to relief today!

Sleep Well The Easy Way

Our Carmel dental team has the perfect appliances to help relieve your snoring and sleep apnea. All it takes to get permanent relief is a call to our office today – we look forward to hearing from you!

Schedule a sleep apnea consultation by calling Really Smile Dentistry at 317-451-4050 or by requesting an appointment online. We’ll see you soon!

Sleep Apnea: Know Your Risk Factors

February 29, 2016

There are times in life where we all snore. No one is immune from sawing logs in their sleep, but some of us are using a chainsaw, and using it all night! If you’re a chronic snorer, or sleep next to someone who is, you know how bad it can be. Whether you’re doing the elbowing or getting elbowed snoring disturbs sleep!

Snoring isn’t always just a result of sleeping on your back – it could indicate a more serious condition called sleep apnea. It’s important to know if you’re at risk for sleep apnea because of how many negative effects it can have on your long term health. We treat sleep apnea at our Carmel office, but we also know that identifying it and making the initial diagnosis is the hardest part. If you’re a chronic snorer who falls into some of these other categories you might be suffering from sleep apnea!

What Is Sleep Apnea?

When you snore it’s because there is a slight restriction to your airway. Your muscles and soft tissue all relax when you sleep, and when they do it can cause partial collapse of your windpipe, causing the loud rattling you hear when snoring.

When your airway becomes completely blocked you can simply stop breathing. These interruptions in your breath are known as apneas, and can occur dozens of times a night. Over time sleep apnea can cause high blood pressure, daytime fatigue, depression, trouble focusing, mood swings, and even heart disease. It’s an important thing to treat!

Sleep Apnea Risk Factors

If you suffer from any of the following your chances for developing sleep apnea are definitely greater.

Overweight patients have a much higher rate of developing sleep apnea. Excess fat tissue around the neck and throat can cause constriction and excess pressure on the airway, making collapse much easier.

A large neck can also increase the risk of developing sleep apnea. Whether muscle or fat the amount of tissue on the airway can be dangerous. If your neck is over 17 inches in circumference (male) or 16 inches in circumference (female) your risks are greatly increased.

A small neck can also be a risk factor. If you are naturally thin necked or have an overly narrow airway it’s just as much a risk as having a neck that’s too large!

High blood pressure is a risk factor as well as a result of sleep apnea. In fact, patients suffering from hypertension commonly suffer from sleep apnea, making any diagnosis of it a reason to be screened.

Diabetics commonly suffer from sleep apnea. If you have either type one or type two diabetes and are a chronically loud snorer it’s not a bad idea to be tested!

Chronic nasal congestion makes it more common for people to breath through their mouths during the night, and an obstructed airway due to draining mucus only makes matters worse!

A family history of sleep apnea can be caused by any number of different sleep apnea risk factors. If your family has a history of sleep apnea there’s a good chance you’ve inherited a risk factor or two.

Smoking causes inflammation of the throat and airway, making it more likely that you’ll suffer from obstruction and sleep apnea.

Alcohol use relaxes soft tissue and muscles, increasing the risk of airway obstruction.

Being male is, unfortunately, a serious risk factor. Men develop sleep apnea at a rate nearly two to one of women.

Keep in mind that all of these are simply risk factors. It is just as possible for a thin, healthy person with minimal risk factors to develop it as it is for someone who can check off a variety of items on this list.

Treating Sleep Apnea

If you come to Really Smile Dentistry for sleep apnea treatment we’ll start by prescribing a sleep study. One we know that you’re suffering from sleep apnea the most common and effective treatment is the use of oral appliances. The devices we prescribe will keep your jaw in a comfortable, natural position that will prevent airway collapse and help you sleep better.

Don’t Take Chances With Sleep Apnea

The dangers of sleep apnea are serious, and the treatment can be incredibly simple. Don’t risk your long term health by ignoring the risk factors and symptoms. Contact our Carmel office to find out more today!

You can reach us at 317-451-4050 or you can request an appointment right here online. We look forward to helping you!

Jaw Pain: What’s The Best Solution?

January 25, 2016

Have you ever woken up with a throbbing pain in your jaw? How about suffering from headaches, stiff facial muscles, and difficulty chewing? All of those problems are symptoms of temporomandibular joint disorder, or TMD.

We’ve treated a lot of patients at Really Smile Dentistry who’ve suffered from pain in their temporomandibular joints, or TMJ. The joint that hinges your jaw is a simple contraption but things can still go seriously wrong with it. In many cases the symptoms can be treated and relief can be found through oral appliances designed to manage discomfort. But do you want to simply treat your pain without ever finding a real cure?

TMJ Pain: What Causes It?

There are a lot of different causes for pain in your TMJ. In many cases it’s related to things you can’t control, like arthritis, a slipped cartilage disc in the joint, or physical defects with the shape of your jaw. Those problems don’t all happen independently, however, and it’s usually the case that you’re suffering from pain because of an underlying condition that’s stressing your muscles.

Have you ever had a sore shoulder that just wouldn’t feel better no matter what you did? You may have thought it was a pinched nerve or something serious, but in most cases it’s simply a case of your muscles being used incorrectly. A lot of people experiencing chronic pain in their shoulders have it because they sit incorrectly, slouch, have bad posture, or simply pull a shoulder up toward their neck when stressed or using the computer.

Pain in your TMJ is a lot like that: it can be caused by underlying issues but often times it’s simply a case of bad muscle use. While you can usually notice if you have poor posture or aren’t sitting at the computer correctly it’s hard to tell when you aren’t using your jaw muscles right: they aren’t exactly visible or easy to notice!

In those cases you can still find relief from a sleep guard or other oral appliance that helps your mouth relax, but that isn’t the whole picture. You’ll feel better but it might just be temporary, or it might not even address what’s really going on: years and years of bad bite behavior that’s resulted in poorly trained muscles!

Neuromuscular Dentistry: Retraining Your Brain For Success

We practice an advanced form of dental manipulation at our Carmel office called neuromuscular dentistry. It might sound complicated but the principle is really simple: your brain isn’t used to using your jaw muscles correctly so we need to retrain it just like we would in any other kind of physical therapy.

It starts with a series of comprehensive exams designed to determine just what’s going on in your jaw. In many cases we might find out that you’re biting incorrectly, favoring certain parts of your mouth, or suffering from any other kind of muscular problem you can think of.

If you’re a candidate for neuromuscular dental therapy we’ll probably do a lot more digital imaging and testing as well. We want to get a complete look at your jaw, teeth, muscle structure, and face shape so that we know precisely how to treat you!

We’ll follow up your initial assessment with the development of an oral appliance that you’ll wear pretty much all the time for the first period of treatment. The device will hold your mouth in a comfortable, neutral spot that will teach your brain a new “home position” for your jaw. Once you’re used to where your jaw should be sitting comfortably we’ll start the next phase of your treatment and work on your bite itself.

Over time we’ll completely change the way your jaw functions, and in the vast majority of cases patients experience complete and long-lasting relief from TMJ pain. Treatments that go along with neuromuscular dentistry can also include orthodontics and other jaw-adjusting therapies. In some patients the bone position or teeth alignment needs to be adjusted as well.

Don’t Settle For Relief: Get The Cure!

You don’t need to settle for simply relieving pain and discomfort with oral appliance therapy. Let us get to the root of your problem at Really Smile Dentistry so that we can have you living comfortably without the need for continued treatment!

To find out what’s causing your pain and determine if neuromuscular therapy is for you call our Carmel office today at 317-451-4050. You can also request an appointment by filling out our online form. We look forward to seeing you!

Treat Sleep Apnea For A Happier New Year | Carmel, IN

December 28, 2015

With 2016 fast approaching, you will hear “Happy New Year” more times than you can count in the next few days.

But what would make your new year happier than this last one?

Feeling more active? Probably.

Feeling more energy when you are awake? Of course.

Getting better sleep? Definitely.

If you are not feeling active and energized, it may be because you aren’t getting good, quality sleep. And that may be because of sleep apnea.

If you have been diagnosed with sleep apnea, but you haven’t found your treatment helpful, then you may want talk to our dentist at Really Smile in Carmel about a different approach to help you sleep better.

Understanding sleep apnea

According to the Centers for Disease Control, nearly 30 percent of Indiana residents have trouble sleeping.

Now, that doesn’t mean that all those people have sleep apnea, but it is one of the more common sleep disorders in the United States. According to the American Sleep Apnea Association, an estimated 22 million Americans have sleep apnea, although 80 percent of them have not be diagnosed. That means 4 out of every 5 people with sleep apnea are doing nothing to treat it.

Why is this a problem? Sleep apnea has been connected with other health issues as well. People with sleep apnea are more likely to have diabetes, heart disease, heart attacks, and strokes.

They also are more likely to be obese. Coincidentally, the obesity rate among adults in Indiana has risen from 14.5 percent in 1990 to 31.8 percent last year.

Some symptoms of sleep apnea include loud and persistent snoring (which means it’s probably affecting your loved ones, too), waking up frequently, feeling tired or irritable, trouble staying alert at work or at school, and waking up feeling like you are gasping for breath.

For people with obstructive sleep apnea (the most common type of this condition), the muscles around their airways relax when they are sleeping. This causes their airways to become blocked, which is why they have difficulty breathing in their sleep. (Apnea come from a Greek word that means “without breath.”)

This is also what causes sleep apnea sufferers to snore. Snoring is a way for your body to wake you up briefly so you will keep breathing.

When this happens frequently, you are not getting the kind of deep sleep that you need. That can lead to daytime sleepiness, and that can be dangerous.

Four researchers looked at data from 380,000 accidents involving commercial truckers. They concluded that sleep apnea was a “significant factor” in motor vehicle accidents.

Their study was published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. They found that people with untreated sleep apnea were four times more likely to be involved in crashes than other drivers.

Get treated

We hope this helps you understand that sleep apnea affects you and the people around you.

If you suspect that you may have sleep apnea, the team at Really Smile can help you get a sleep study so you can be diagnosed.

If you are diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea, you may be prescribed a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine. This machine blows air into your airway to keep it open while you sleep.

CPAP users wear a mask while they sleep so the machine can work. When used correctly, the CPAP is an excellent way to alleviate the breathing problems associated with sleep apnea.

Unfortunately, many people do not use their CPAP. Some find the masks uncomfortable or irritating so they take them off or refuse to wear them. That also means they are not really treating their sleep apnea.

As an alternative, our dentist can create a mouthpiece that sleep apnea sufferers can wear at night.

The mouthpiece works by holding your jaw in a more relaxed position. This keeps your airway open so you can continue breathing while you sleep.

This will cut down on your snoring (which your loved ones will appreciate, too) and allow you to get the refreshing, quality sleep that you need to feel healthier, happier, and more alert.

Help yourself enjoy the new year

If you have already been diagnosed with sleep apnea but find your CPAP too problematic to use, come to our dentist office in Carmel. We would be glad to explain how one of our mouthpieces could help you sleep better.

If you suspect you might have sleep apnea, don’t wait any longer to get diagnosed and begin your treatment.

Call our office at 317-451-4050 or use our online form to schedule a consultation. The sooner your call, the sooner you can start sleeping better.

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