HOW YOUR DENTIST CAN HELP SNORING AND SLEEP APNEA!
Snoring and Sleep Apnea are caused by a constricted airway in your throat during sleep. One of the reasons this happens is because your tongue collapses back into your throat. This can be due to a constricted dental arch due to your teeth position, being overweight with excess fat in your face and neck area or other anatomical anomalies. Sleep Apnea is a serious disorder where your body gets an insufficient amount of oxygen at night compromising the reparative and restorative value of sleep. Snoring is often a symptom of Sleep Apnea but doesn’t necessarily mean that you have Sleep Apnea. The most typical symptom of Sleep Apnea is an excessive degree of tiredness in the afternoon and/or a compromised ability to concentrate at this time as well.
Sleep Apnea makes you 10 times more prone to Cardiovascular Disease and strokes! This is a serious condition that should not be ignored. A diagnosis needs to be made with a Sleep Study assessing your degree of compromise. In our office we can prescreen you by giving you a pulse Oximeter to wear at night to see if you are at risk and need a full sleep study. If you do, we can arrange for an at home sleep study for convenience.
The classic treatment for Sleep Apnea is the use of a C-PAP machine (Constant Positive Air Pressure) which requires being tethered to an oxygen tank every night. Because this is often uncomfortable and inconvenient, the patient compliance rate is often low (less than50%) with C-PAP machines. The 2nd most common treatment which helps both simple snoring and Sleep Apnea is the use of a removable dental appliance that is worn at night. Compliance with this is 90% due to ease of use and portability. This appliance repositions your lower jaw and tongue to be more forward and opens up your airway allowing proper oxygenation during sleep. Dr. Krochak has taken Sleep Medicine courses and has been successfully making these appliances for over twenty years.
For more information, you can contact Dr. Michael Krochak at
drk@nycsmilespa.com
NYC Smile Spa
30 E. 60th St., Rm 1201
New York, NY 10022
(212) 838-2900
Relax and smile!
