Burke, Fairfax and Fairfax Station, VA
The Sleep Foundation estimates that daytime fatigue affects approximately 25% of the American population. For many people, this fatigue stems from not getting enough sleep on a nightly basis. Others find that they are always tired in the morning, no matter what time they went to bed or how many hours they spent sleeping. Chronic daytime sleepiness can be a sign that something else is wrong – and one of the culprits could be obstructive sleep apnea. Read on as, today on the blog, your Burke sleep apnea dentist explores some of the reasons you keep waking up tired.
What is obstructive sleep apnea?
Sleep apnea is a well-known and widespread sleep breathing disorder. The spectrum of sleep breathing disorders runs from mild snoring to totally losing the ability to take breaths while you sleep. Sleep apnea tends to be on the more serious end of the scale. If you have sleep apnea, you experience frequent airway blockages when you lay down to rest. These blockages may be partial or complete, potentially cutting off airflow altogether.
When your airway becomes obstructed, which is known as an apneic event, oxygen levels drop until your brain believes it is suffocating, then sends signals to the body to resume normal breathing. In the vast majority of apneic events, the patient never consciously wakes up, but the sleep cycle is disrupted to resume normal breathing. As a result, a person with sleep apnea spends less time in the deepest stages of sleep, which are crucial to physical and mental restoration. For someone who has a severe and untreated case of sleep apnea, these apneic events may occur hundreds of times per night! Just imagine the impact that has on sleep quality.
What happens when you live with sleep loss
We all experience a restless or short night from time to time, but if sleep apnea is impacting you, this is a different situation altogether. Quantity outweighs quality when it comes to sleep; it’s better to get six hours of deep and restful sleep than seven or more hours of fitful sleep. If you’re living with sleep apnea, it will just get worse and continue to cause problems as time passes. Meanwhile, your sleep deprivation also worsens.
The consequences of living with sleep loss may include:
- Poor performance at school and/or work
- Difficulty concentrating or maintaining focus
- Sudden, otherwise unexplainable mood swings or bouts of irritability
- Loss of sexual libido, up to and including impotence
- Weight gain
- A downturn in your overall physical health
How your dentist can help with the effects of sleep apnea
Sleep apnea dentistry is a specialization of the dental field that focuses on airway management. While a sleep apnea diagnosis only can come from a qualified sleep specialist, a sleep apnea dentist can identify signs of the sleep breathing disorder or provide you with a WatchPAT™ home sleep testing device to conduct a sleep study at home. From there, we can make a referral to the appropriate practitioner, then provide treatment for sleep apnea. The office of Pamela Marzban, DDS, also can provide you with a
Just how does a dentist treat sleep apnea?
We provide oral appliance therapy, which is an alternative to CPAP. A customized mouthpiece is constructed to ensure maximum fit, effectiveness and comfort. When worn, this oral appliance brings the lower jaw forward and helps maintain an open airway throughout the night, thus avoiding the airway blockages that cause apneic events in the first place.
Pamela Marzban, DDS, offers the MicrO2 appliance. This device is renowned for its comfort, thanks to its smoothly contoured borders that avoid irritating the cheeks and gums; and its relatively small size, which better accommodates the tongue. Consistent use of this oral appliance will relieve your sleep apnea and allow you to get the deep, restful sleep that you need.
Sleep apnea dentistry in Burke, Virginia
The American Medical Association estimates that 30 million Americans suffer from sleep apnea, although this figure is only a guess because many people with this sleep breathing disorder never get diagnosed. If you are frequently waking up tired no matter how early you go to bed, you owe it to yourself to schedule an airway evaluation with the sleep apnea dentist at Pamela Marzban, DDS. Make your appointment today by calling 703-323-8200 or completing our online appointment form.
