What is Sleep Apnea?

The American Sleep Foundation states that sleep apnea is a medical disorder that is characterized by interrupted and abnormal breathing when one is asleep. Each night, you are going to experience interrupted episodes of sleep. In addition to that, you are going to snore most of the night.

The American Dental Association identifies obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) as the most common sleep disorder. It accounts for a whopping 80% of sleep and breathing problems in the US. Others live with the condition for long without their knowledge.

 

Impact of Sleep Apnea

It is not difficult to identify the signs and symptoms of sleep apnea include snoring loudly, fatigue, and difficulty in concentration, irritability, and headache. The upper airway narrows or collapses during sleep. If you have sleep apnea, you are going to experience a pause during sleeping, and this could take a few seconds to a few minutes.

The most conspicuous impact of sleep apnea is that one feels tired throughout the day. This is because one has not had enough sleep, and the body has not had an opportunity to rest. In addition to that, one is going to feel restless during the day. The medical community warns that if sleep apnea is left untreated, it can lead to serious consequences in the course of time.

 

Benefits of the Dentist in Sleep Apnea

There is a strong correlation between dental health and sleep. Dentists have a critical role to play in managing sleep conditions. Dentists exploit the strength of the relationship that they have with the patients and use it to identify sleep disorders that their clients could be facing.

Dentists play a critical role in detecting sleep apnea. In particular, they use routine checkups in order to identify if the upper airway is small and if there are other anatomic problems. Now that the dentist has the medical history of a patient, they are in a position to collect data, the use of a questionnaire for instance. They also play an important role in health education concerning the same.

Management of sleep apnea requires a cross-functional team, and the dentists are a part of this team. A collaborative effort is going to involve the sleep doctor, primary care physician, a sleep lab, pulmonologists, and the dentist. Dentists can help other professionals in identifying oral problems in a patient. Working with a multi-disciplinary team helps the medics to know if there is any under-laying condition that requires attention.

Today, dentists can exploit the benefits of diagnostic imaging in checking if the patient has a problem. For instance, cone-beam computed tomography can be used to evaluate if the patient is having a deformity that affects breathing and sleeping.

 

Conclusion

If you are experiencing a sleep disorder, you need to make a routine check-up of your teeth. The dentist will be in a position to advise you on the best way forward. The sooner sleep apnea is treated, the better the chances of treatment.