If you don’t get adequate sleep, you’ll know it! Unfortunately, you can become unnecessarily cranky, experience mood swings, and even ruin the relationships you have with close friends and family that you have.
If you’re unsure why your sleeping habits have been so off, but can’t figure out a way to improve them, you could be suffering from a sleeping disorder. Learn more about sleep apnea in State College and how a dentist may be able to help you get the treatment you really need.
What is Sleep Apnea?
Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when your upper airway is blocked by the lower jaw or tongue relaxing too much. You’ll have pauses in breathing and your body will negatively react to it because of your partially blocked airway. Obstructive sleep apnea may cause you to experience symptoms like these:
- Morning headaches
- Mood swings
- Depression
- Decrease in sex drive
- Inability to focus
- Slowed cognitive function
- Inability to use critical thinking skills
- Chronic dry mouth
- Snoring or choking sounds throughout the night
Why Is It Important to Seek Treatment for Sleep Apnea Right Away?
As mentioned above, sleep apnea can have a plethora of symptoms that affect the quality of your life. There are some serious risks that come with the pauses in breathing that sleep apnea causes.
- Inability to function on small tasks. Lack of sleep impacts your ability to function correctly throughout the day. Your brain functions may become slowed, decreasing your ability to concentrate on even the easiest tasks.
- Increased chance of being in a car accident. You could doze off at the wheel causing an accident or you could have impaired reactions to other cars on the road surrounding you.
- Overall health risks. In fact, those with sleep disorders are more likely to develop diabetes and cardiovascular problems, like heart disease or even strokes.
- Severe depression and mood swings. You’ll experience mood swings that range from anger to sadness and even irritability. Your relationships will also suffer from this.
Let a Dentist Help You!
If you think that you may have sleep apnea, the best thing that you can do is reach out to a dentist. They are trained professionals in everything that has to do with your head, neck, and oral structures, so they understand what could be happening to your airway when you sleep.
Your dentist may have you undergo sleep testing in State College to determine is sleep apnea is the true cause of your concern. If so, then you explore options for treatment, one of the most common and effective ways being a custom oral appliance from your dentist.
Oral appliances offer these benefits to patients with sleep apnea:
- Comfortable wear throughout the night.
- An easy shift of the jaw or tongue to clear the airway.
- Small and portable for easy travel.
- Customized to your own mouth to address your specific sleep apnea cause.
- Simple to use and non-surgical.
The sooner that you reach out to a dentist for a sleep test, you’ll be able to determine the cause of your concern and seek effective treatment.
About Our Office
Here at State College Dental Sleep Medicine, we know how great your whole body feels when you get enough effective sleep. That’s why we take pride in helping all of our patients feel amazing once they recover their healthy sleeping habits. If you experience difficulties getting a full night of effective sleep due to a sleeping disorder like obstructive sleep apnea, feel free to give us a call today!