Snoring and Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) are breathing disorders, which occur during sleep, due to the narrowing or total closure of the airway.
Snoring is a noise created by the partial blocking of the airway. When you fall asleep the soft tissue at the back of your throat can sag, narrowing the airway. Incoming air then makes the tissue at the rear roof of the mouth (the soft palate), the flap of skin hanging from the palate (uvula) and the throat vibrate – a sound we know as snoring.
Obstructive Sleep Apnoea occurs when the airway becomes completely blocked and breathing stops temporarily. The brain then detects the lack of oxygen and prompts the patient to wake up momentarily to draw breath. Although OSA sufferers may experience hundreds of apnoea episodes per night, they are unlikely to remember any of them. You require a sleep study referred from your GP to diagnose this.
At Cornerstone Dental we have several options to assist in the relief of snoring and OSA, including splints and the MDSA appliance. Please consult your dentist to find out whether these products are right for you.
A mandibular advancement splint is designed to posture your lower jaw forward during sleep, thus holding your tongue and muscles of the floor of the mouth forward, and opening up your airway for better breathing. Once this appliance has been fitted and optimally adjusted, you should notice that any snoring you may have experienced is lessened or completely absent, and you should wake feeling more refreshed, and less tired during the day. At first this may take time to adjust to the unusually forward position the appliance will posture your jaw to.
Our dentists are approved in the fitting of SomnoMed devices for the treatment of snoring and Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) for patients. We’ll conduct a thorough dental exam to assess your oral health status and ensure the SomnoMed device is appropriate for you. Dental impressions and bite registrations are made and sent to SomnoMed where the customised mouth guard is made. A follow up appointment is then made where our dentist will fit the device and instruct you on how to fit and remove it yourself, as well as appropriate care and cleaning.
