{"id":1977,"date":"2023-02-27T23:13:36","date_gmt":"2023-02-27T23:13:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drgalaif.com\/?p=1977"},"modified":"2023-11-21T00:57:34","modified_gmt":"2023-11-21T00:57:34","slug":"do-you-know-what-sleep-dentistry-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drgalaif.com\/do-you-know-what-sleep-dentistry-is\/","title":{"rendered":"Do you know what Sleep Dentistry is?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Most patients think Sleep Dentistry <\/em>refers to Sedation of patients during complex dental procedures, but it is actually what dentists do to help people who have sleep problems.\u00a0 Dr. Galaif can work with you to help ease sleep apnea and\/or snoring symptoms. About 50 to 70 million Americans have ongoing sleep disorders, including about 18 million with sleep apnea.<\/p>\n Dental sleep medicine is an area of dental practice that focuses on the use of oral appliance therapy to treat sleep-disordered breathing, including snoring and sleep apnea. \u00a0\u00a0Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) happens when tissue in the back of the throat collapses and blocks the airway while you’re sleeping, cutting the amount of oxygen delivered throughout the body.\u00a0 As air attempts to pass through this collapsed airway, tissues vibrate and cause you to snore. Sometimes this collapse prohibits airflow so severely that you briefly stop breathing; your body automatically responds and wakes you up, allowing airflow to resume. \u00a0You may wake up so briefly that you don’t even know it. \u00a0Snorers also tend to lose sleep, sometimes because their own loud noise rouses them, not to mention their bed partner, who may be bothered (sometimes to a critical point in a relationship) by the noise.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n In addition to the nightly annoyance, the pattern of air deprivation and breath resumption known as OSA can also cause more serious complications, including:<\/p>\n There are only 2 products approved by the FDA to eliminate or reduce OSA: \u00a0An oral appliance or a CPAP machine. Both the oral appliance and CPAP eliminate or reduce sleep apnea by opening the blocked airway in the back of your throat. A CPAP opens the blocked airway by forcing air down your throat through a mask. Consequently, your airway remains open, thus eliminating or reducing sleep apnea.\u00a0 An oral appliance moves the position of the jaw, preventing muscle collapse and keeping the airway open, eliminating or reducing sleep apnea.<\/p>\n Dentists trained in dental sleep medicine use oral appliance therapy to treat sleep-disordered breathing, including snoring and OSA. Oral appliance therapy is a proven, effective treatment for OSA provided by Dr. Galaif \u2013 a custom dental appliance we create for you to wear at night while you sleep. These plastic devices pull the jaw forward, which advances the tongue and helps open the airway, cutting down on snoring and the tissue collapse that causes OSA. They’re like night guards and retainers with a top and bottom.<\/p>\n\n