A good night’s sleep helps you feel and perform your best. Sleep disorders like sleep apnea can hurt your health and overall wellbeing. Floss City Dental offers sleep apnea solutions to help you sleep soundly and improve your quality of life.
Understanding sleep apnea
Sleep apnea is a chronic disorder in which breathing is repeatedly interrupted during sleep. The most common form is obstructive sleep apnea: the muscles of the throat relax, soft tissue collapses and blocks the airway, and air can’t reach the lungs.
Symptoms of sleep apnea
Common symptoms include loud snoring and gasping or choking sounds during sleep. You may wake up with a dry mouth or a morning headache, or feel tired and sluggish. Other symptoms include trouble staying asleep, excessive daytime sleepiness, memory problems, difficulty focusing and irritability.
Health risks
Sleep apnea affects your quality of life and your safety, raising the risk of accidents at work and on the road. It’s also linked to health problems including high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, obesity, diabetes and chronic acid reflux.
Treating sleep apnea
Sleep apnea is diagnosed with a sleep study, done at home or in a sleep lab, which also shows how severe it is. Treatment options include continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), oral appliance therapy and surgery.
A CPAP machine delivers a steady stream of pressurized air through a mask while you sleep. Oral appliance therapy uses a custom mouthpiece, similar to a mouthguard, that holds your airway open. It can greatly reduce snoring and apnea episodes, and many patients find it more comfortable than a CPAP mask. When other treatments don’t work, surgery may provide relief.
Sleep apnea solutions in Plano, TX
Visit Floss City Dental to learn more about managing snoring and sleep apnea. We look forward to helping you get restful, restorative sleep.