If you have obstructive sleep apnea, it’s likely that your breathing is interrupted countless times during a night’s rest. This can ultimately leave you feeling irritable and excessively tired when you wake up. To help, our Jacksonville and Live Oak, FL, dentists offer sleep apnea treatment which involves creating a for you to wear while in bed.
Keep reading to learn how we can help treat mild to moderate sleep apnea without a CPAP machine.
What Are Signs of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)?
The tricky thing about is you aren’t always the one who first notices an issue. Naturally, that’s because you’re asleep when symptoms are often showing themselves and despite technically waking for gasps or short breaths of air, the moments are usually so quick that you don’t always register them.
More often than not, it’s a partner, friend, or roommate that catches you exhibiting unusual behavior and informs you the next day. Our dentists urge you to take any comments or feedback from the person living with you seriously and seek treatment. Untreated sleep apnea can put you at risk for hypertension, stroke, diabetes, and more.
Signs of OSA that you should look out for include:
- Loud snoring
- Fatigue during the day
- Restless sleep
- Dry mouth or a sore throat when you wake up
- Sweating at night
- Difficulty concentrating or irritability
- Headaches
How an Oral Appliance Can Help
Once you’ve been evaluated by our dentists and a diagnosis is clear, we’ll move forward with the creation of a nighttime oral appliance that’s designed specifically for you. When in place, this device will fit much like a night guard but instead of preventing teeth grinding or clenching, it will move the lower jaw forward to keep the tongue from blocking the throat.
While this type of treatment is safe and effective, our dentists can still work with your primary doctor or chosen sleep specialist to determine if an oral appliance is the best route to take. For example, if your condition is more severe, a CPAP machine might be the right solution.
Breathe Easier at Night with Treatment
Think you might have sleep apnea and want to know more about how our , can help? Give one of our Higgins & White Dentistry locations a call today to request an appointment.