Tired of snoring and waking up with headaches? How our dentist in Sydney can help

Does your partner regularly banish you to the spare room or the sofa for snoring? Do you frequently wake up with headaches in the morning, feeling unrefreshed and foggy?

You aren’t alone!

While many people snore at some point in their life, about 30% of people are known as chronic-snorers, meaning that they imitate a fog-horn at least 3 times per week every week! And although you may think that your nocturnal sounds are a condition to themself, they aren’t; snoring is actually a symptom of an underlying disorder which, surprisingly, a dental practitioner can help to diagnose and treat.

At Spa Dental, our dentist in Sydney is able to offer afflicted patients sleep dentistry. Sleep dentistry explores why a patient is snoring, and this area of dental care allows our team to help you get a better night’s sleep by reducing your snoring with the use of custom-made appliances, such as mouth guards. It can also involve sleep studies, so no stone is unturned when it comes to both you and your partner getting those all-important 40 winks!

But what does sleep dentistry actually involve?

Assessment

Firstly, our dentist in Sydney will assess your oral soft tissues for signs of obstruction, such as growths or irregularities.

If there are none, we will enquire about your lifestyle; do you smoke, drink alcohol regularly or take any sedative medications? If you do, we can offer smoking cessation but if you drink or take medications, you will need to speak to your doctor for further help and advice.

Sleep studies

If our dentist in Sydney cannot find an immediate cause for your snoring, we will refer you for a sleep study. This will help our team (and your doctor) to assess if your breathing is affected while you sleep, as well as obtaining a clearer idea related to why you snore, which could be an underlying symptom of sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea

Left untreated, sleep apnea cannot only cause snoring, it can cause long-term health risks.

Caused by the lower jaw and soft tissues pressing on the windpipe during the night, sleep apnea can cause serious complications such as irregular heart rhythms and oxygen deprivation. The sleep studies which our team can send you to will be able to identify if you have sleep apnea, how much it is impacting your sleep and how severe it is.

Appliances

Once diagnosed, our team can offer you appliances to help keep your airway open and your sleep uninterrupted.

The first is a custom-fitted mouthguard, which will hold your lower jaw in position while you sleep, preventing it from compressing the windpipe and causing you to snore.

The second appliance which is reserved for more serious cases of sleep apnea is a continuous positive airway pressure (or CPAP) machine. Applying a continuous stream of oxygen into your airway, it stays open during the night and supplies your body with oxygen. This will stop you from snoring and ensure that you awake feeling refreshed.

DISCLAIMER

All treatment carries risks. Individual consultation is required with one of our practitioners to ensure that the treatment is right for you.