Posted: May 16, 2017
Millions of Americans suffer from sleep apnea. Hundreds of thousands of new cases are diagnosed each year. There's no good way to know exactly how many cases go undiagnosed. If you suffer from sleep apnea, treatment is necessary to restore your ability to get restful, restorative sleep.
At the practice of Dr. Paul Sussman and Dr. Meredith Pogal, we are proud to provide one of the most effective, comfortable forms of treatment: the mouth splint. You may have also heard this treatment referred to as a snoring device, sleep appliance or mandibular advancing splint. There is a wide variety of brands. We use the MicrO2.
You may wonder, how does the sleep device prevent sleep apnea? It works by holding your jaws forward, in their proper position, so that the tissues of your throat and the back of your mouth cannot droop into your airway. It is the drooping of these tissues that causes an obstruction of your airway while you sleep, thereby cutting off the flow of oxygen until your brain rouses you enough to open your airway.
If you suffer from this sleep disorder, you may have repeated episodes of airway blockage dozens to hundreds of times a night. It makes it virtually impossible to get the high-quality, restorative sleep your brain and body need. Some of the potential long-term consequences of untreated sleep apnea are:
- Heart disease
- High blood pressure
- Stroke
- Memory problems
- Difficulty concentrating
- Depression and other mood changes
- Extreme daytime fatigue
If you think you may have sleep apnea, we urge you to contact our dentists. Once a physician diagnoses the disorder, we can provide treatment to restore restful sleep.
To schedule a consultation with our experienced dentists in Rochester, please call our staff at 585-227-4390. We are proud to provide care to people from across the region, including the areas of Webster, Greece and Fairport, NY.
