Sleep apnea is a medical condition that disrupts your breathing while you sleep. It interrupts your rest and could result in other health issues, like diabetes and cardiovascular issues. Some common symptoms include excessive snoring, daytime fatigue, morning headaches, difficulty concentrating, and difficulty staying asleep throughout the night. Medical experts recommend treatment for sleep apnea to manage the underlying cause, reduce symptoms, and improve your sleep and quality of life. Fortunately, there are various treatment options that you can benefit from, depending on the cause and severity of your condition. They include the following:
Making Lifestyle Changes
Dentists and medical professionals mainly recommend lifestyle changes as one of the most effective ways to manage sleep apnea. This is a safe, non-invasive, and highly effective solution you will find for your breathing and sleep issues. Some of the recommendations you will receive include:
- Losing Weight
With a proper diagnosis, a dentist or medical professional will be able to tell the exact cause of your sleep apnea. If your weight is the main cause or a great contributor to your sleep and breathing issues, they will recommend safe ways to lose the excess weight. Shedding extra weight, especially around your neck, could make breathing easier during sleep.
- Change of Sleeping Position
Some people only experience sleep apnea when sleeping in a particular position. If this is your case, your dentist or medical professional will recommend making some changes in the way you sleep. For example, you may find sleeping on your side much easier than on your back. This is because when you sleep on your side, you prevent gravity from pulling the throat tissues and tongue back into the airway, which could be causing the sleep apnea.
- Cutting Out Alcohol and Smoking
What you consume right before sleeping could be aggravating your sleep apnea. In this case, your medical team will recommend cutting out things like alcohol, which could be affecting how your muscles relax as you sleep. If you avoid consuming alcohol before bed, your muscles will not relax too much as you sleep.
Quitting smoking can also help. This is because smoking causes the swelling and inflammation of your upper airways, which could be causing your sleep apnea. Once the swelling reduces, you could start sleeping better.
- Incorporating Regular Workouts
Workouts and exercises are highly recommended for a healthy lifestyle. They boost your energy, help you manage weight, and improve your mood. Workouts also strengthen your breathing muscles, which can help with sleep apnea.
- Clearing Nasal Passages
If you have serious allergies that block your nasal passages, your doctor can recommend treating them to improve how you breathe. You can use strips or saline sprays to help you breathe through your nose, even as you sleep.
Myofunctional Therapy
Sleep apnea is not something that you can easily ignore. It affects your general well-being and quality of life. Finding the right treatment is highly recommended for improved sleep quality and improved daytime energy. If you do not get enough sleep every day, or on most days of the week, you become less productive over time. Improved quality of sleep also reduces your risk of heart disease and other health issues like diabetes. Your mental and cognitive function also improves. That is why, if some of the recommended lifestyle changes do not work, you may consider other treatment options.
Myofunctional therapy involves exercises for the tongue, facial muscles, and soft palate to tone them. They are designed to strengthen the targeted structures to prevent the collapse of your airway during sleep. These exercises are known to reduce breathing and lower apnea significantly, especially in mild and moderate cases of obstructive sleep apnea.
Your dentist can help you master the exercises so you can practice them at home to improve your breathing during sleep. Eventually, your throat muscles will become tighter, meaning that they will vibrate less during sleep. This is how you reduce snoring. Additionally, the exercises decrease the number of times your breathing pauses. Skilled dentists recommend 10 to 20 minutes of myofunctional therapy every day for lasting results.
Working with a dentist is critical because they can examine your oral anatomy to determine the cause of your sleep apnea. They can also develop a personalized treatment plan that suits your needs, preferences, and budget.
Airway Pressure Devices
The primary treatment for sleep apnea is positive airway pressure therapy, or the use of an airway pressure device. These are devices that use a motor to pump steady, pressurized air through a mask and tube. They create a gentle air pressure that keeps your throat open while you sleep so you can breathe easily and steadily throughout the night.
There are three main types of these devices:
- The CPAP, or Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, device is designed to deliver a steady, mixed-air pressure to your throat throughout the night.
- The APAP, or Auto-adjusting Positive Airway Pressure, delivers air pressure according to your needs throughout the night. It automatically adjusts air pressure as your breathing changes while you sleep.
- BiPAP, or Bi-level Positive Airway Pressure, is a device that delivers air pressure only when you breathe in and lowers it when you breathe out. This makes exhaling easier as you sleep.
When you visit your dentist with sleep apnea, and they recommend an Airway Pressure Device, they will explain how each option works to help you make a decision. All three types comprise three main parts that work together to deliver the required air pressure to aid your breathing at night. These parts include:
- The motor or machine that powers the device and delivers a steady airflow to your lungs. The motor also filters the air in the room to improve the quality of air you breathe while sleeping.
- The tubing is the flexible hose that carries air from the motor to your mask. Its flexibility makes it easy for you to sleep comfortably with the device.
- The mask is part of the device that fits around your nose or pillow. There are different designs to choose from, including the full-face masks that cover your mouth and nose.
Although these devices are very effective for obstructive sleep apnea, some patients report discomfort, while others find them challenging to use consistently. You should explore other options to see which one best suits your needs. Combining the device with other treatments, like lifestyle changes and myofunctional therapy, can work even better for you. Your dentist will recommend a combination of therapies that will eventually improve the quality of your sleep and general health.
Oral Appliances and Positional Therapy
Oral appliances are customized mouthpieces you could wear during sleep. They are a perfect choice for mild and moderate obstructive sleep apnea. They are also recommended for people who find CPAP devices uncomfortable or difficult to wear consistently. These mouthpieces are designed to shift your lower jaw or tongue forward, which keeps your airway open as long as you keep them in.
The most common of these devices are:
- The mandibular advancement device is designed just like any other mouth guard used in sports activities. You snap it over your teeth as you sleep, pushing your lower jaw forward and slightly down.
- The tongue-retaining device is designed to hold your tongue forward while you sleep. It uses a small suction bulb that prevents the device from blocking your throat.
These customized devices are small, easy to use, and easy to travel with. They also work quietly, unlike the CPAP devices. However, it can take you some time to get accustomed to wearing one while you sleep. Before then, you may experience jaw soreness and discomfort. Additionally, these devices can misalign your teeth, eventually causing you bite issues. You may need further treatment to align your teeth, at an additional cost. Some users have also complained of excessive salivation when wearing an oral appliance.
Note: There are over-the-counter oral appliances, like ‘boil and bite,' which may come in handy before you have a device customized for you. However, since they are not made to your specific measurements, they may not fit properly and may not address the underlying cause of your sleep apnea.
Positional therapy is a behavioral treatment that mainly treats positional obstructive sleep apnea. This is the kind of sleep apnea that occurs only when you sleep in a particular position, such as on your back. This therapy uses simple tools and smart devices to correct your sleep position, which eventually treats your sleep apnea. For example, your doctor may recommend a smart device or tool to prevent gravity from pulling your throat tissue or tongue down, which can block your airway while you sleep and cause breathing problems.
Surgical and Other Advanced Treatments
Medical professionals recommend advanced treatments like surgery for sleep apnea as a last resort, when all other treatments fail to provide the desired results. These treatments target very specific airway blockages and offer once-and-for-all relief to your breathing and sleep issues. Generally, a doctor will recommend surgery if you cannot tolerate treatments like CPAP. Some of the most common advanced treatments include structural jaw repositioning, stimulation implants, and tissue reduction procedures.
A skilled professional can help you choose the ideal advanced treatment for your sleep apnea. Some of your options include:
- The Use of Advanced Devices
Examples of devices under this category include hypoglossal nerve stimulation devices, which are basically implants that stimulate the hypoglossal nerve as you sleep. They trigger a mild impulse that moves your tongue forward to keep your airway open.
Another example is the drug-induced sleep endoscopy, which is a more advanced tool that uses light sedation to determine exactly how and where your airway collapses. This provides critical information to your medical team, especially if you are considering surgery.
- Upper Airway and Soft Tissue Surgery
Examples of treatments in this category include uvulopalatopharyngoplasty, an operation to remove the tonsils, uvula, and other parts of the soft palate that may be blocking your airway. This operation widens your upper throat to make breathing easier for you, especially during sleep.
You can also opt for transoral robotic surgery, whereby a medical specialist uses a robotic tool to accurately reduce or shape soft tissues at the base of your tongue to clear your airway.
You can also benefit from nasal surgery to clear nasal passage blockages, easing your breathing and improving airflow.
- Jaw and Skeletal Procedures
Depending on the actual cause of your sleep apnea, your doctor may recommend a jaw or skeletal procedure. Examples include maxillomandibular advancement, which moves the upper and lower jaws forward. This will physically pull your throat and tongue muscles forward to keep the airway open.
You can also opt for genioglossus advancement, which repositions your tongue muscle to the point where it attaches to the jawbone. This will stop your tongue from falling back regardless of your sleeping position.
Timely treatment of sleep apnea is recommended to fix the underlying problem once and for good. However, for this to work, you must recognize that you have a problem and visit a dentist or medical facility immediately. If the people around you complain that you snore a lot when you sleep, or you are always waking up tired, it may be time to see a professional.
Find a Skilled Dentist Near Me
If you or someone you love shows signs of sleep apnea, you should seek treatment as soon as possible. This is because the symptoms may worsen over time, leading to additional health issues. Fortunately, there are several treatments for sleep apnea, depending on the cause and seriousness of your condition. A skilled dentist can diagnose the underlying issue and recommend a treatment or combination of therapies that may eventually resolve it.
We are experts in treating all kinds of sleep apnea conditions at Lasting Impressions Dental Spa. Our competent dentists have the skills and experience to diagnose and recommend the right treatment for your sleep apnea in Encino. Call us at 818-751-5100 to discuss your treatment needs and our services in detail.
