Sleep Apnea Treatment – Houston, TX Helping You & Your Smile Rest Easy
Whatever you may have thought, tooth and gum issues aren't the only dilemmas your mouth can have. A problem with your oral cavity could give you a case of sleep apnea, putting your whole body at risk. The good news is that our practice will gladly help you with this situation! Thanks to our sleep apnea treatment in Houston, we at Dr. Rich’s office can help you snooze soundly again. Learn more about it by reading below or book a consultation today!
What is Sleep Apnea?
Sleep apnea is a severe disorder that (briefly) causes you to stop breathing while asleep. Its effects force you to wake up enough to breathe, resulting in a loss of crucial rest.
The disorder’s most common form is obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which occurs when throat muscles block airflow into the lungs. OSA’s main symptoms are the following:
- Loud or Excessive Snoring
- Persistent Daytime Fatigue
- Gasping for Air During Sleep
- Dry Mouth Upon Awakening
- Morning Headache
- Irritability
In rarer cases, a patient can suffer from two other major forms. The first one is central sleep apnea (CSA) – a condition where the brain doesn’t send proper signals to the muscles that control breathing. Form two is treatment-emergent or “complex” sleep apnea, which has elements of both OSA and CSA.
The Dangers of Sleep Apnea
While sleep apnea may seem harmless at first, it presents a grave danger to your health. Leaving it untreated could do a lot of damage to your body.
For starters, sleep apnea elevates the risk of life-threatening conditions. Studies show that people with it tend to have heart attacks, strokes, and high blood pressure. Similarly, sleep apnea makes you more likely to develop insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. All these issues can prove deadly if they aren’t dealt with quickly and correctly.
There’s also the fact that sleep apnea lowers quality of life, even when it isn’t life-threatening. The disorder is known to cause chronic fatigue, depression, and issues with memory and focus. If left unchecked, your sleep problem would trigger a large decline in your mental well-being.
Sleep Apnea Treatment Options
While many doctors treat sleep apnea with a CPAP machine, our practice takes a different approach. We emphasize proper diagnosis followed by a stretch of oral appliance therapy.
As a precaution, Dr. Rich will first refer you to a great sleep doctor for diagnosis. They’ll perform a close exam and other steps to see if you really have sleep apnea. If you do, you’ll return to our office for qualified treatment.
We would treat your sleep apnea with simple and effective oral appliance therapy. For this service, Dr. Rich provides you with a small mouthpiece to wear each night while asleep. The device shifts your jaws slightly to keep your airway open, ensuring you get deep and uninterrupted rest. As many as 90% of patients see increased sleep quality from using it.