Yeronga Park Dental

Sleep Dentistry

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Sleep Dentistry

What Is Sleep Disordered Breathing?

Sleep disordered breathing involves a reduction in the airway space during sleep. Signs include loud snoring, choking or gasping for air during sleep, frequently awakening through the night, restless sleep, and excessive daytime sleepiness.

Snoring is caused by a partial closure of the airway space, resulting in the air to move faster during respiration causing soft tissue vibration which causes the noise.

Sleep Apnoea is where total airway closure occurs and the person stops breathing completely which will result in an awakening in the sleep pattern.

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Sleep Dentistry

What Are the Causes Of Sleep Disordered Breathing?

There are a number of areas where airway obstruction can occur.

The most common area is the back of the throat where the muscles relax during sleep and fail to keep the airway open. This can be exacerbated by excess weight which results in fat deposits in the neck area, alcohol and sedative use which relaxes the muscles further, smoking which causes irritation to the tissues and fluid retention, and the position of the body when laying on the back allowing gravity to cause the tongue to collapse.

Nasal congestion can occur with allergies and sinus problems which can narrow the nasal passages. Anatomical factors can also reduce the airway space such as enlarged tonsils and a deviated septum.

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Sleep Dentistry

Treatment Of Sleep Disordered Breathing

The first step in treating sleep disordered breathing is to determine the severity of the problem by having a sleep study conducted. For very mild cases some lifestyle changes may be indicated such as weight loss, avoiding alcohol and sedation before bedtime and changing sleep posture.

For mild to moderate cases the use of a mandibular advancement device (M.A.D) allows the lower jaw and tongue to be repositioned forward to open the airway space during sleep.

For severe cases the use of a continuous positive airway pressure (C.P.A.P) machine is used to deliver a continuous stream of air through a mask that is worn to help keep the airway open during sleep.
Surgery can sometimes be recommended for structural issues that may be causing the obstruction.

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Our dentists have more than 25 years of experience, including expertise and qualifications in implants, orthodontics and sleep medicine. International post-graduate, international certified orthodontics and internationally qualified dental implant surgeons.