Despite spending hours sleeping, you wake up feeling like you didn’t sleep at all! Sleep apnea could be the culprit if you experience daytime fatigue, poor concentration, and morning headaches. This sleeping disorder causes stoppages in breathing while sleeping, which denies your body a restful sleep and adequate oxygen supply. This is why you wake up feeling groggy and moody.
Sleep apnea does more than interrupt your sleep. If left untreated, sleep apnea can trigger health complications such as heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes. Don’t let sleep apnea wreak havoc on your health. Instead, please get in touch with Piney Creek Family Dentistry in Centennial, Colorado, for effective sleep apnea treatment.
Sleep apnea occurs when your breathing stops when sleeping. Even though the breathing stops for a scary 10 seconds, these episodes can occur up to a hundred times in one night! When the brain notices oxygen deprivation, it signals your body to wake up to resume breathing. That’s why you wake up choking or gasping for air.
Sleep apnea comes in many sizes and shapes. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most common type, which occurs when your throat muscles relax, blocking your airway partially or completely when sleeping. Sometimes, patients may suffer from central sleep apnea (CSA), where the brain fails to signal the body to breathe because of a neurological disorder, medication, or other reasons. Although uncommon, some patients have complex/mixed sleep apnea, which combines OSA and CSA.
While only a doctor can diagnose you with sleep apnea, there are symptoms you can watch out for. The tell-tale signs of sleep apnea include:
The lack of restorative sleep and inadequate oxygen supply can cause health complications. The awakenings at night are too brief to remember but long enough to interrupt your sleep. When this happens night after night, your major organs suffer, putting you at risk of life-threatening conditions like:
Most medical practitioners recommend a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) to treat obstructive sleep apnea. This device delivers a constant flow of pressurized air to keep your airway open at night. Unfortunately, many patients don’t complete treatment with CPAP therapy because they consider it noisy, cumbersome, and uncomfortable.
Dr. Fritz has hope for those who can’t tolerate CPAPs. We offer customized dental splints to treat mild to moderate OSA. The dental device pushes your jaw forward and depresses your tongue, keeping your airway open as you sleep. This way, you get uninterrupted sleep to help your body rest, heal, and degenerate as nature intended.
Patients using sleep apnea mouthguards find this alternative more user-friendly than a CPAP. No noise, no claustrophobia, and no discomfort — you simply slip your dental splint in your mouth before sleeping and wake up feeling refreshed and energized. Our custom dental appliance is comfortable enough to allow you to breathe normally when sleeping. Many patients don’t even notice its presence after a few days of use!
Losing the battle to sleep apnea? You can get the restful sleep you deserve and restore your health with sleep apnea solutions from Piney Creek Family Dentistry.
Please call (303) 562-1051 to schedule an appointment with Dr. Tiffany Fritz and the team today.
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