As many as 80-90% of people with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) don’t realize they have it, though leaving it untreated can lead to serious consequences for your health. The experienced team at Beaufils Dental in Cooper City, Florida, provide personalized sleep apnea care that doesn’t involve continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) so you can get the oxygen you need as you slumber. Call Beaufils Dental for an OSA treatment consultation or book an appointment online today.

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What is sleep apnea?

Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that makes it difficult for you to breathe freely at night. Obstructive sleep apnea is a type of the disorder that dentists can treat. It affects you when the configuration of your tongue and other tissues in your mouth and throat obstruct the flow of air when they relax. For example, the tissues of your throat collapse and close your airway.

If you have sleep apnea, you unintentionally stop breathing many times throughout the night. You might also wake up frequently throughout the night. The pauses in breathing cause your blood oxygen levels to drop because your body cannot take in the oxygen it needs, which can lead to serious health complications if you go without treatment for sleep apnea.

How can I tell if I have sleep apnea?

You might wonder how you’ll know if you have sleep apnea if you’re always asleep when it happens. Surprisingly to many, a lot of the symptoms of sleep apnea occur during the day: You just might not link them to a sleep disorder at first.

Aside from the pauses in breathing at night and frequent awakenings, sleep apnea symptoms can include:

  • Daytime drowsiness
  • Morning headaches
  • Morning dry mouth or sore throat
  • Depression or irritability
  • Trouble concentrating at work
  • Low libido

Beaufils Dental uses sleep lab polysomnograms, or sleep studies, to measure valuable data about your sleep patterns that helps identify obstructive sleep apnea. These tests monitor your sleep stages, the number of times you wake up throughout the night, and your oxygen levels throughout the night among other parameters. You receive a portable monitoring system that allows you to complete your sleep study in the comfort of your own bed.

How is sleep apnea treated?

Sometimes the best way to manage sleep apnea involves no clinical treatment at all. You may be able to breathe easier at night if you lose weight, change your sleeping position, or stop smoking.

When these measures aren’t enough to improve your airflow and give you a good night’s sleep, Beaufils Dental intervenes with professional snoring and sleep apnea treatments that don’t use continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), the standard treatment for sleep apnea.

Rather than using a restrictive and often uncomfortable CPAP machine, you can manage your sleep apnea with a custom oral appliance from your dentist, positional therapy, or oral surgery to eliminate the obstruction.

Request an appointment online or over the phone at Beaufils Dental to breathe easier at night with sleep apnea treatment today.