Sleep Apnea Treatment

If you are waking up with headaches or feeling tired, you could be suffering from sleep apnea. While you are sleeping, if you stop breathing for a moment or longer, your brain signals that you need air and your sleep is interrupted. This can happen a few times or hundreds of times during the night. You may not be aware that you have this problem, but you feel the effects in the form of fatigue, headaches, or a foggy mind in the morning.

Sleep apnea can severely diminish your quality of life, even if you live an otherwise healthy lifestyle. Les Belles NYC can diagnose and treat the problem with solutions that will restore your ability to get a decent night’s sleep so you can achieve a productive morning.

The first step in treatment is the proper diagnosis. Once we determine that sleep apnea is the cause of your fatigue and headaches, we will work with you to find treatments to provide the relief you seek. The gold standard for sleep apnea is a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure machine (CPAP). The most popular dental treatment for the right candidates is the use of an oral appliance, which positions your jaw to keep the airway open.

Relief from Snoring and Teeth Grinding

Know why mouthguards are useful in alleviating snoring, sleep apnea, and teeth grinding?

One of the common causes of snoring and sleep apnea is the collapse of the soft palate muscles during sleep. This results in an obstruction of the airway which causes muscle tissues to vibrate as your body overcompensates to take in and expel air. The overcompensation can result in audible snoring, or in the case of sleep apnea, a complete pause or halt in breathing that triggers your brain to bring you from a deep sleep into a shallow sleep, or fully awake. The disruptive sleeping patterns that arise therefrom can have negative effects on your quality of life (not to mention sleep!) such as contributing to feelings of daytime sluggishness. A custom-made oral appliance can help alleviate these symptoms by positioning the jaw in such a way that it keeps the airway open and prevents muscle collapse while you sleep.

Teeth grinding, or bruxism, is often be caused by stress or anxiety but it is also a potential indicator of sleep apnea. The wearing down of your upper and lower teeth not only can result in painful sensations throughout the jaw and neck, but it can also damage the structure and overall appearance of your teeth. The benefit of a custom mouthguard is that it prevents your upper and lower teeth from grinding against one another, a movement that anatomically works to alleviate your airway passage. By taking the pressure off your jaw and protecting your teeth, a mouthguard can help prevent tooth damage and assist jaw alignment during the night.

Your oral health can affect every other area of your life. A healthy lifestyle begins and ends with a healthy mouth. At Les Belles NYC, we help you attain the highest level of oral health in keeping with a healthy lifestyle. We can also help you get a good night’s sleep with an accurate diagnosis of your sleep problem and a treatment that is effective.