What are your recommended treatments for Sleep Apnea?
Sleep apnea is not something you would ordinarily see a dentist about. That is changing, as more and more people are beginning to recognize just how connected their dental health is to the rest of their bodies. The fact is, we are all closed kinematic chains, which is an engineering term that has come to be used by medical professionals to explain how movement by one joint can produce or affect movement at another joint. It’s the best way I know of to describe how something happening in one part of your body can affect another part.
When it comes to sleep apnea, one of my pet peeves about the medical profession is this: patients who think they have a sleep disorder are instructed to take a sleep study; if the study shows they have sleep apnea, they are immediately put on a CPAP machine. Every time I ask a patient if their physician went over the sleep study with them, they always say no. I usually tell them to get a copy of the sleep study so we can talk about it.
Here are the two types of apnea I see most often in my practices.
Positional Sleep Apnea
A lot of people only have apnea on their backs. The sleep study tells you when you stop or slow down your breathing, but it also tells you what position you’re in when it happens. It gives you a percentage of how many times it happens when you are on your back, on your stomach or on your side. Invariably, most people with apnea have zero or only a few apneic events while on their sides. While on their backs, they have many apneic events. So, you can wear a CPAP, or you can learn not to sleep on your back.
To help in that area, there’s a simple device called an Apnea Pillow. It’s a backpack you strap on with a round or pointy pillow that doesn’t allow you to sleep on your back. This specially made pillow forces you to sleep on your side. It’s much better than hooking yourself up to a machine and having to deal with that all night, disturbing your bed partner.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea
There are many different kinds of apnea, but the most common is Obstructive Sleep Apnea or OSA. If it’s mild to moderate, many times an oral appliance can be used instead of a CPAP. The appliance acts as a connector between the upper and lower jaws, bringing the lower jaw forward, which mechanically opens your throat, thus opening the airway. Is an oral appliance for everyone? No. Is it for a lot of people? Definitely.
The point of all of this is to show you that there other options for combatting sleep apnea besides CPAP machines, and the more you know, and the more questions you ask, the better off you’ll be in the long run. Again, these are just my recommendations. Most medical professionals would agree, though each will stress different areas of concern based on their practice.
Obviously, my practice is a little different from most. I take a very comprehensive approach to my patients. We talk about everything in advance, and I tailor their treatments according to their needs. This is the only way I have found to ensure health of mind, body and mouth.
