Clearwater Dental Associates
Sleep Apnea
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What is Obstructive Sleep Apnea?
Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when your muscles relax during sleep, allowing the soft tissue to collapse and block your airway. As a result, patients may stop breathing up to hundreds of times a night, for anywhere from a few seconds to more than a minute at a time. Snoring, excessive daytime sleepiness, memory problems, irritability, fatigue, and insomnia are all signs that you could be losing shut-eye and valuable health to sleep apnea.
Left untreated, sleep apnea can be a potentially life-threatening condition. It can increase the risk for other serious health problems such as high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, depression, and more.
Symptoms Of Sleep Apnea
- Heavy Snoring
- Periodic Loss Of Breath While Sleeping
- Struggling To Breathe While Sleeping
- Constant Fatigue And Lack Of Energy
- Weight Gain
- Depression
- Dry Throat
- Irritability & Mood Swings
- Worsening ADHD
Is Sleep Apnea Dangerous?
Treatments For Sleep Apnea
The traditionally prescribed treatment for obstructive sleep apnea is continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy. It involves sleeping with a face mask connected by tubing to a constantly running machine. Although CPAP is effective, up to half of patients don’t adhere to the treatment. At Clearwater Dental Associates, your dentists can provide an alternate sleep solution with oral appliance therapy!
We make custom sleep apnea appliances in our office designed to open airways during sleep. Patients with mild or moderate cases of the condition often prefer oral appliances over bulky CPAP machines. No matter what treatment you require, we will be there for you every step of the way!
Oral Appliance Therapy for Sleep Apnea
We provide oral appliance therapy as an effective, non-invasive treatment option for snoring and obstructive sleep apnea that fits easily into your lifestyle. An oral dental appliance looks like a sports mouth guard and can be worn as you sleep.
If you have concerns about snoring and sleep apnea, make an appointment. Our team can recommend a sleep physician at our practice who will help get your treatment started, or we can fit you with a custom oral appliance right here at our office!
