What is Dental Sleep Medicine?
Dental sleep medicine involves the treatment of sleep-related breathing disorders, such as snoring and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), through the use of oral appliances and airway management strategies. We collaborate with sleep physicians to diagnose and treat conditions where the airway becomes compromised during sleep, leading to poor airflow and disrupted sleep patterns.
The primary tool in dental sleep medicine is a custom-fitted oral appliance designed to maintain an open airway by repositioning the lower jaw, tongue, and soft tissues. These devices are an alternative or complement to treatments like Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machines for patients who suffer from mild to moderate OSA or who cannot tolerate CPAP.
Beyond appliance therapy, dental sleep medicine involves assessing the patient's oral and airway anatomy, encouraging nasal breathing, and exploring broader treatments such as myofunctional therapy, expansion appliances, or orthodontics to improve airway function. It also highlights the oral-systemic connection, understanding how dental structures and sleep-disordered breathing can influence overall health, including cardiovascular disease, TMJ disorders, and daytime fatigue.
Sleep Apnea & Upper Airway Restistance
Sleep Apnea is the cessation of breathing usually due to an airway obstruction. Sleep studies in lab or home can be done to evaluate the extent of the sleep disordered breathing.
While CPAP is the gold standard for treating sleep apnea, mild to moderate sleep apnea can be addressed by using an oral sleep appliance. Please contact our office for more information.
UARS or upper airway resistance syndrome is a form of sleep disordered breathing which frequently goes undiagnosed.
All sleep disorder breathing issues improve with:
— Obligate nasal breathing and not mouth breathing
— Toning the tongue & muscles of the throat with therapy
— Ensuring adequate space for the tongue
We provide the Sleep Image ring system for home sleep testing.
Nightlase
Nightlase is the nonsurgical treatment for snoring where 2 different wavelengths of laser light energy are used to help tighten the tissue that surround the airway. The first laser light is warming to the deep layers of tissue and the second laser light tightens and tones the tissue. Chronic mouth breathing along with age related loss of collagen and skin tone can cause the soft palate and the back of the tongue to lose firmness and tone and nightlase therapy is a great solution.
There is no numbing and the procedure is quite comfortable. Results can be often be seen and felt after the very first treatment but a series of 3 treatments are considered ideal.
More information under Laser Therapy section.
