How well you sleep impacts every aspect of your daily life and your health. A good night’s rest will help you perform your best. Getting a healthy sleep will also make you look and feel better.
How well you sleep impacts every aspect of your daily life and your health. A good night’s rest will help you perform your best. Getting a healthy sleep will also make you look and feel better.
A sleep problem can be harmful to your health. The risks associated with sleep disorders include high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and acid reflux. Untreated Sleep Apnea has been linked to early death. This has been the suspected cause of death of many young seemingly healthy men, for example: NFL great Reggie White (age 43), Comedic actor John Candy (age 43) and Sopranos star James Gandolfini (age 51).
SNORING
At Health Style Dental we screen every patient for “red flags” that might indicate a sleep disorder. We use several screening tools including Epworth, Simple Eight and Berlin Study. Some of the factors that may alert Dr. Larson or Dr. Nguyen are:- Misaligned jaw
- Narrow dental arches
- Signs of tooth wear related to grinding or clenching
- Tongue position
- Narrow oral airway
Loud and frequent snoring is a common sign of sleep apnea.
HOW ARE SNORING AND SLEEP APNEA DIAGNOSED?
After screening at Health Style Dental, Dr. Larson or Dr. Nguyen will refer you to a Sleep Centre for a Sleep Study. A Sleep Specialist Doctor (usually a Respirology Specialist) will conduct the Sleep Study, usually done in the comfort of your home. If the Sleep Study indicates that there is Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) there will be options available to treat the OSA. If you and your doctor decide that Oral Appliance Therapy is the best option for you, the Sleep Specialist will write a prescription for you to receive a custom made Oral Appliance. Oral Appliance Therapy is recommended by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine as a treatment for Mild to Moderate Obstructive Sleep Apnea.
ORAL APPLIANCE THERAPY
At Health Style Dental, we will work closely with your referring physician to treat your snoring and diagnosed Sleep Apnea. We will do a full examination of your jaw, teeth, tongue and airway and possibly a special airway x-ray.
The advantages of Oral Appliance and the reason so many patients prefer Oral Appliance therapy over treatments such as CPAP or continuous positive airway pressure are:
- Comfortable to wear
- Easy to insert and remove
- Quiet and not disruptive to bed partner
- Portable
- Convenient for travel
- Easy to care for
HOW DO I KNOW IT WILL WORK FOR ME?
Dr. Loreen Larson has started offering a new technology, MatRX, developed by Dr. John Remmers and Zephyr Sleep Technology. The MatRX device is a sleep test that will confirm if an individual with Sleep Apnea will respond to treatment with an oral appliance. Dr. Larson will construct a trial overnight temporary appliance that will be used with the MatRX Sleep Study unit. Using Cloud-based technology the data is transferred to a Sleep Physician for assessment. The data obtained with the MatRX sleep technology is used to construct a customized Oral Appliance that has been confirmed to be effective to treat your sleep apnea. For more information contact Health Style Dental.
