TMJ Sleep Apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea Is the most common sleep apnea diagnosis. If you suffer from TMJ, sleep will most likely be affected negatively. This disorder is caused when the soft tissue on the back of your throat relaxes during sleep and blocks your airway. As airflow stops, this is called an apnea, the oxygen level in your blood drops, causing your brain to kick start the breathing process, which is accompanied by gasping or choking. Dentistry can help sleep apnea. Sleep apnea, with the constant jolts awake, affects how you feel when you wake up and can lead to chronic health conditions. It can even be fatal if the case is severe and left untreated. Untreated for years, research shows that sleep apnea patients may lose 20-50% of their lifespan.

CPAP is used by many sleep apnea sufferers, but for some it can be cumbersome and not all patients respond to the therapy.There are several non-invasive, nonsurgical procedures to treat sleep apnea utilized by dentists trained in dental sleep medicine. Oral appliance therapy, for example, can be very effective in treating patients who snore and those suffering from mild to moderate sleep apnea as well as those patients with severe sleep apnea who cannot tolerate CPAP.

Once a patient has been diagnosed with a sleep apnea condition by a physician, oral appliance therapy is often a nonsurgical dental option for sleep apnea treatment. Oral appliances require specific design, fabrication and customized fittings to meet individual patient needs for proper forward repositioning of the lower jaw and tongue in order to improve the opening of the upper airway during sleep for successful treatment results. Remember, only a dentist specially trained to treat sleep problems can provide these services.