If you have daytime sleepiness, snore or have reduce concentration or depression, you may be suffering from sleep apnea.  

Sleep Disorders, can contribute to many serious conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, stroke, dementia and depression. Left untreated, obstructive sleep apnea can take 12-15 years off a person’s life!

This is because the body is not getting enough oxygen during sleep.  The body is supposed to go into regenerative cycles during sleep.  This does not happen if a person has sleep disordered breathing. 
 

In apnea your tongue falls back against the back of your throat and your throat muscles relax so much that they block your airway. When this happens, you can stop breathing for 10 seconds or more. Carbon dioxide builds up and causes your brain to signal you to wake up.  You do briefly and begin to breathe normally again. These brief interruptions can happen many times an hour and can severely hurt your health.
 

This can make your sleep fragmented with lighter stages of sleep. You may not remember waking up many times during the night, however, due to lighter sleep you will most likely feel tired the next day. The lack of sleep and fresh air can also strain your lungs, heart, and other organs. 

 

Many patients diagnosed with sleep disordered breathing are prescribed a CPAP.  Unfortunately over 50% do not wear it.  They either find it uncomfortable, they feel claustrophobic, they don’t like having anything on their face or the noise bothers them and so on. CPAP intolerance is a real problem.
 

Fortunately dental appliance therapy is an effective and comfortable alternative for patients with mild or moderate sleep disordered breathing.

 

Dr. Nichols offers complimentary airway evaluations to help patients achieve and maintain optimal health.

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Learn more by watching these videos.