Obstructive sleep apnea or OSA is the most common type of sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when the soft tissue in the back of the throat and mouth falls back during sleep; seals the airway and the person stops breathing periodically.
Our body reacts to these stops in breathing by trying to rouse us. The heart rate increases followed by snorts, gasps, or choking sounds as a person’s body fights to resume breathing again. The patient wakes up in a panicked state.
At Apollo Dental in Ballantyne, Dr. Ishita Seth is committed to treat OSA with Oral Appliance Therapy (OAT). OSA increases the risk of following comorbidities:
At Apollo Dental, we coordinate with Sleep Medicine Physicians to coordinate a referral for Home Sleep Testing. Based on sleep apnea results of sleep study, we develop custom Oral Appliance Therapy for sleep apnea and snoring sleep appliance therapy in Charlotte.
Oral Appliances gently pull the lower jaw forward to open the airway. Dr. Ishita Seth can also help develop Pharyngeal training appliances to help perform targeted exercise and tone the muscles that maintain the airway function.
She will also manage the coordination of Oral Appliance Therapy with a Sleep Specialist for pre and post appliance analysis. Custom fitted oral appliances can be billed under most medical insurance plans (as opposed to dental insurance).
There are three stages of Sleep Apnea determined by the amount of Apnea events (breathing pauses):
For mild to moderate sleep apnea, a dental device is often the recommended therapy. For severe sleep apnea, CPAP is the option. Dental devices can also be worn in conjunction with a CPAP device to help lower high pressure needs.
Once diagnosed with Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Dr. Ishita Seth will thoroughly examine your teeth and mouth to determine the obstructive sleep apnea device that is right for you. Dental impressions will be made to be sent to a laboratory to fabricate custom made oral appliances.
Once the oral appliance is being used on a regular basis, we can do a post appliance sleep study to evaluate the effectiveness. Many medical insurance policies offer to pay for some or all Oral Appliance Therapy.
They fit into the mouth by snapping over the upper and lower dental arches and have metal hinges connect the two pieces – one fit the upper teeth/jaw and the lower fit the lower teeth/jaw.
They pull the lower jaw and tongue forward to open the airway. This prevents the throat muscles from collapsing back into the airways allowing for normal breathing during sleep.
It has a small compartment that fits around the tongue using suction to keep it held forward and prevents the tongue collapse in the airway. This is used when jaw cannot be repositioned forward.
At Apollo Dental, Dr. Ishita Seth can also help develop pharyngeal training appliances to help perform targeted exercise and tone the muscles that maintain the airway function. We can also develop a DNA appliance for patients who have an underdeveloped upper airway and craniofacial bones. This helps prevent the collapse of smaller airways during sleep.
Obstructive sleep happen when the muscles in the throat relax. Under sleep apnea the airway is narrowed or closed, this will cut off the breathing.
The obstructive sleep apnea signs would be, snoring, pausing in breathing.
A wedge pillow can work as a sleep apnea device because the inclined open will help the airflow to reduce the apnea.
If the Obstructive sleep apnea treatment is not done, then it may higher the risk of health issues.
The snoring sleeps would be preferred to side sleeping as a treatment of your sleep apnea.
There are three types of sleep apnea:
There are most common things doctors would recommend you:
Food items like bananas and high-fat dairy products can increase your body’s mucus production also.
There is a prescription tongue muscle stimulation device that claims to reduce mild obstructive sleep apnea and snoring.
Studies have shown that a combination of vitamin C and Vitamin E can reduce the number of apnea episodes at the night.
The study shows that sleep apnea was not associated with the severity of anxiety or the presence of it.