Treating Sleep Apnea
By treating your sleep apnea, you can improve your overall health, too! Sleep apnea causes breathing to repeatedly stop and start, and is quickly becoming an epidemic in this country with an estimated one in four middle age to elderly patients who visit a doctor suffering from it. So, what does this mean? It means you should seek help immediately if you think you or a loved one suffers from sleep apnea.
Many patients today suffer for years because they do not go to the doctor for help. It is understandable that you do not want sleep apnea, but if you do have it, then why not get the help you need to live a healthy, happy, well-rested life? Putting off diagnosis and treatment is only hurting you in the long run.
Oral Appliance Therapy for Relief
As you may already know, the American Sleep Disorder Association endorsed oral appliance therapy as the third currently acceptable treatment modality for snoring and sleep apnea. The largest number of patients who currently suffer from sleep apnea are in the mild to moderate categories and should be treated with oral appliances. Despite the fact that treatment with the CPAP machine is extremely successful, there are a number of patients who cannot or choose not to wear the face mask with the attached air compressor.
For these patients, oral appliances provided by a dentist trained in dental sleep medicine are proving to be an excellent treatment option. There are three types of oral appliance currently available for the treatment of sleep apnea:
- Soft palatal life appliance
- Tongue retaining appliance
- Mandibular repositioner
To find out more about oral appliance therapy and how your dentist can help in treatment of snoring and sleep apnea, contact Dr. Kambiz Kashfian today!