Sleep Apnea

A General Overview of Sleep Apnea

This prevalent sleep disorder affects your breathing, disrupting your sleep patterns and causing disturbances. People with this condition experience repeated stops and starts in their breath during sleep. In addition to affecting the quality of your sleep, these pauses can also compromise the flow of blood and oxygen throughout your body. Once the quality of your sleep is compromised, you experience fatigue during the day and struggle to concentrate. Eventually, this disorder increases your risk of severe health issues, like heart disease, obesity, and heart attack.

People who have experienced sleep apnea have suffered from one of these three types:

Obstructive Apnea

This type of sleep apnea occurs recurrently, whereby your airway becomes wholly or partly blocked during sleep. This causes your diaphragm and chest muscles to overwork during an apneic episode. The extra pressure is needed to open the blocked airway, allowing you to breathe more easily. The impact of this is reduced air and oxygen circulation to your body. If your critical organs do not receive enough oxygen, you could experience severe health conditions, like heart-related issues.

Central Apnea

This type of sleep apnea does not block your airway. It occurs when your brain fails to signal you to breathe due to an unstable respiratory system. Central apnea mainly occurs when the brain fails to send a proper signal to the muscles that control breathing. Fortunately, this can be improved by modifying your lifestyle and undergoing appropriate medical treatment.

Complex Apnea

If you exhibit symptoms of obstructive and central apnea, a medical expert or dentist can diagnose complex apnea.

Sleep apnea affects individuals of all ages and genders. However, more men than women have been reported to experience it. Treatment for sleep apnea benefits individuals across all age groups. However, some people are at a higher risk of sleep apnea than others. For example, you are at greater risk if you are overweight or have a bad bite.

What Causes Sleep Apnea?

Different types of sleep apnea occur due to various reasons.

For example, obstructive apnea occurs when the airway is obstructed or blocked, making breathing more difficult than it should be. However, the underlying cause is the collapse of tissues at the back of the throat as you sleep. On the other hand, central apnea mainly affects people who have an underlying CNS-related condition, like stroke.

Other contributing factors are medical issues like neuromuscular diseases, heart failure, and lung and kidney problems. Here are some of the factors that put you at a greater risk for sleep apnea:

• Your gender, whereby men are at a greater risk than women
• Being overweight
• If you are a smoker
• The circumference of your neck
• Anatomical differences
• If you are obese
• Family history
• If you use sedatives and alcohol
• If you habitually sleep on your back

Signs You Have Sleep Apnea

Although you experience breathing difficulties as you sleep if you have sleep apnea, you do not feel it when it happens. However, someone who sleeps next to or close to you can tell. People close to you are the first to recognize the problem. You will notice other symptoms with time, though, including daytime fatigue and concentration problems. Here are some of the issues that should compel you to speak to a healthcare provider or dentist, which could indicate sleep apnea:

• If you snore while sleeping
• You experience daytime fatigue or sleepiness
• You choke in the middle of the night
• You frequently awaken or are restless as you sleep
• Sweating at night
• Impaired cognition that causes you to be forgetful, irritable, or experience difficulties concentrating
• A dry mouth
• A disturbed mood that causes you to be anxious, stressed, or depressed
• Sexual dysfunction
• Bedwetting, or frequent bathroom breaks at night
• Frequent headaches during the day

Many patients who are later diagnosed with sleep apnea visit doctors seeking help for recurrent awakenings or insomnia. Most complain of choking experiences at night or waking at night, gasping for air. You may experience some or most of these symptoms, but not all of them. However, they will improve once you start treatment and make lifestyle changes.

If your child has sleep apnea, these are some of the indications that will help a medical expert make a proper diagnosis:

• Poor performance in school
• Difficulty swallowing or breathing, or breathing through the mouth
• Sluggishness and sleepiness during the day
• Their rib cage moves inwards as the child breathes in
• Excessive sweating at night
• Unusual sleeping positions
• Learning and behavioral disorders

How Dentists Diagnose Sleep Apnea

Dentists are among the medical professionals who screen for and provide appliances to treat sleep apnea. This condition causes a person to breathe through the mouth, resulting in a dry mouth. A dry mouth increases the risk of severe gum disease and tooth decay. Sleep apnea also results in teeth grinding, which can damage your teeth and cause TMJ disorders. Remember that many people do not realize they have sleep apnea until they start experiencing severe symptoms like sluggishness during the day, a dry mouth, and choking awakenings at night.

When you visit your dentist or healthcare expert with sleep apnea symptoms, they will ask questions and conduct a physical examination to rule out other conditions with similar symptoms. A dentist will recommend treatment for sleep apnea once they have confirmed its presence. Here are some of the questions the dentist will ask to obtain concrete information for proper diagnosis:

• If you are on any medications, like opioids, which can impact your sleep patterns
• Questions that will indicate a possible cause for sleep apnea, such as your weight, and any underlying medical conditions
• If you have lately traveled to a region with an altitude of over 6,000 feet. These areas have relatively low oxygen, which could cause some of your symptoms

Your responses will help the dentist determine if sleep apnea is a possible diagnosis. Here are strategies dentists use for a comprehensive diagnosis:

Reviewing Your Medical History

There are issues in your medical history that could point the dentist to the correct diagnosis. Thus, you should be forthcoming about your past and current treatments to help them properly diagnose you. For example, if you have been diagnosed with sleep apnea in the past, this could be a recurrent condition. Some issues, such as insomnia and daytime fatigue, can also point to the same underlying problem. If you have been treated for high blood pressure or diabetes, it could indicate medical complications from untreated sleep apnea. This information will inform your dentist’s next move.

Conducting a Physical Examination

A physical examination will also help diagnose, allowing the dentist to identify some of the physical symptoms you have experienced or may not be aware of. During this examination, the dentist will look for physical signs that put you in danger of apnea, including your jaw size, position, and tonsils. A physical exam will also reveal to the dentist whether you are overweight or obese, as well as the circumference of your neck. The dentist can order an X-ray examination of your lungs, heart, and neurological symptoms to determine if you have an underlying disorder that could cause sleep apnea.

A Study of Your Sleep Patterns

This could be necessary for the dentist to determine how well, or otherwise, you sleep during the night. They can study while you sleep in a special facility or at home. Some of the things the dentist will watch out for during this study include the following:

• Any indications of sleep apnea while sleeping, including stops between your breaths, sleep awakenings, and choking
• Low- and high-level activities in the muscles that manage your breathing
• A medical expert can examine your blood for oxygen levels while you sleep
• They can monitor how your heart and brain function during rest

Treatments for Sleep Apnea

Medical experts use various treatment strategies for sleep apnea, depending on the type and severity of the condition. They could also recommend lifestyle changes, such as regular exercise and healthy eating habits, to help manage the symptoms. Here are common treatments that can improve your situation and sleep patterns:

Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, or CPAP Therapy

This treatment aims to enhance air circulation to various parts of the body while you sleep. Medical experts recommend using a CPAP device, a machine that uses an airtight hose and a mask to provide a patient with regular airflow while they sleep. The machine’s pressure helps keep your airways open as you sleep, preventing blockages that cause sleep apnea. This reduces the number of stops in your breathing patterns.

At the beginning of therapy, sleeping with the device may be difficult, but it becomes easier with time. The device immediately relieves some apnea symptoms, boosting physical energy and mental health.

This technology has undergone significant improvements in the last few years. We now have lighter, quieter, and more comfortable devices for sleep apnea patients. It may take a few days or weeks to get accustomed to sleeping with the machine, but the relief you experience in a short time makes it worthwhile.

Here are some recommendations your dentist can give once you start using this device:

• Always ensure the machine, especially the mask, is well fixed for comfort and more effective results. You can wake up to fix it well in the middle of the night.
• When choosing a device, go for one with a pre-installed humidifier
• Reset your machine if its airflow wakes you up in the middle of the night
• Keep your machine clean

Other Assistive Breathing Devices

The CPAP device is the most commonly used assistive breathing device for patients with sleep apnea. However, there are others to consider, including the following:

• The EPAP device, or expiratory positive airway pressure device, is fixed on the nostrils to keep the airways open as you sleep. It is much smaller than CPAP devices and is most recommended for people with mild apnea.
• The ASV device, or adaptive servo-ventilation. It primarily treats central sleep apnea and is rarely recommended for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. It stores data about your breathing and sleeping patterns and can automatically detect and prevent pauses in your breathing pattern while you sleep.
• The BiPAP device is also known as a bilevel positive airway device. This is recommended for patients who are unable to use a CPAP. An auto-adjusting BiPAP can automatically adjust pressure while you sleep, ensuring an uninterrupted breathing pattern throughout the night.

Oral Appliances for Sleep Apnea

Dentists also recommend oral appliances for mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea. You can choose this type of appliance if CPAPs or other similar devices are too complex for your condition. Oral appliances are generally easier to use and more comfortable than assistive breathing devices. Most oral appliances are made from acrylic and come in a perfect size that fits in your mouth. They function more like mouthguards, which keep your airways open while you sleep, improving your breathing. Some can be fitted around your jaw, chin, and head to adjust the location of your jaw for improved oral health.

The mandibular advancement device is the most common appliance in this category. It is very effective in treating or managing obstructive apnea. The device is designed to prevent the tongue from obstructing the throat as you sleep, which could obstruct airflow. However, with the assistance of a sleep specialist, your dentist must determine your suitability for this device.

You could experience side effects with oral appliances, including soreness, saliva buildup, or damage to your lower jaw. These symptoms are more likely if the device is not installed correctly.

Surgical Treatment for Sleep Apnea

Your dentist can recommend surgery if other treatments for sleep apnea do not produce the expected results. Surgical treatments for such conditions are usually major, inpatient procedures that can require prolonged hospital stays. If you have a malformation or excessive tissue that affects your breathing during sleep, surgery can correct the underlying issue to improve your breathing and sleeping patterns. The malformation, or excess tissue, can occur in strategic areas, such as the tongue, throat, or tonsils. People with enlarged tonsils, a deviated nasal septum, or smaller jaws can also benefit.

Here are common surgical treatments that help sleep apnea patients:

• Tonsillectomy for the removal of excess tonsillar tissue that causes obstruction in children with sleep apnea
• Somnoplasty that reduces soft tissues in a patient’s upper airways
• Mandibular or maxillary advanced surgery, correcting facial abnormalities, or throat obstructions that cause obstructive apnea

Implants for Sleep Apnea

This new intervention involves installing a pacemaker device, such as the FDA-approved Inspire device, to stimulate the muscles that keep airways open. It mainly treats obstructive sleep apnea. 

A Change of lifestyle

Some lifestyle changes can help alleviate your symptoms and lead to a resolution of your sleep apnea. Here are some of the changes your dentist can recommend:

• Losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight can help you sleep better, and help you manage or avoid other conditions, like stress, diabetes, and blood pressure, which can worsen your sleep apnea symptoms
• Sleeping on the side instead of on the back can reduce snoring and help you breathe better
• Exercising to improve your breathing patterns and for weight reduction
• Your dentist can recommend that you stop or reduce your consumption of alcohol, tobacco products, or anti-anxiety drugs, which worsen sleep apnea symptoms.

Find a Competent General Dentist Near Me

Sleep apnea is a condition that affects your oral health and general well-being. Sadly, you do not know you have it until someone close to you points out some symptoms, like distressed breathing while sleeping. You can seek medical help if you experience daytime fatigue, sluggishness, insomnia, sleep awakening, and restlessness. Fortunately, there are different ways in which a dentist or medical expert can treat the condition to improve your breathing and sleeping patterns.

At Calabasas Smiles Advanced Dentistry, we recommend a proper diagnosis for sleep apnea for the right treatment recommendations. During diagnosis, we will review your treatment and family medical history and do a comprehensive physical exam to develop an effective treatment plan. We recommend treatment based on the nature and severity of your symptoms and the underlying condition. Call us at 818-878-7300 for more information about sleep apnea and our services.