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How Your Dentist Can Help You Get a Better Night's Sleep

 

Beautiful, healing sleep: there are few things that contribute more to our overall well-being, and few things that make life more miserable than the inability to get a good night’s sleep. You may not realize that your dentist can be a key player in your ability to sleep comfortably all night,but that’s the truth!

 

If you suffer from sleep apnea, you’re not sleeping deeply during those hours that your body should be doing the most healing and repairing. We’ll explain what sleep apnea is and how your dentist can help.

 

Types of Sleep Apnea

 

Sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which you suffer from abnormal breathing. If you snore loudly and feel tired after a full night’s rest, you may suffer from this condition.

 

There are a few different types of sleep apnea:

 

  1. Obstructive sleep apnea is caused by the excessive relaxation of throat muscles, collapsing the airway.
  2. Central sleep apnea occurs when your brain doesn’t send the right signals to your muscles to properly control your breathing.
  3. A combination of both types of sleep apnea is referred to as complex sleep apnea syndrome.

 

When this problem has gotten serious, you may be snoring loudly, then stop breathing entirely. With a gasping or choking sound, you finally start getting some air in your lungs. This happens over and over for most of the night. During the day, you may be so tired that you fall asleep when you’re working, relaxing or even driving.

 

The odd thing is that unless someone sleeps next to you, you may not even know you’re struggling to breathe at night!

 

Complications of Sleep Apnea

 

The problems that can result from sleep apnea go far beyond not getting a good night’s sleep. Realize that your body is not getting the oxygen it needs every moment. This deprivation can reduce your blood oxygen levels, straining your entire cardiovascular system. Your risk of high blood pressure increases.

 

Type 2 diabetes is more common with people struggling with sleep apnea. This is also true of a related condition called metabolic syndrome—a group of symptoms including high blood sugar, abnormal cholesterol, increased waist measurement and high blood pressure. Tests show that sleep apnea is also hard on the liver—there are more signs of scarring and liver function tests are often abnormal.

 

How Can We Help?

 

We are trained and experienced in providing you with a custom snore guard or an oral appliance to prevent sleep apnea. These are devices custom fit to you that keep your mouth and jaw in the correct positions to maintain an open airway. For many people, this is all they need to start having a restful night’s sleep.

 

If you suffer from sleep apnea, don’t delay in calling StarBrite Dental, the office of Dr. Maryam Seifi , so we can help you transition to a new, restful sleep pattern. Face your day bright-eyed! Contact us at (301) 770-1070 to schedule your appointment for an exam and evaluation.

 


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