At State College Dental Sleep Medicine, we are dedicated to using innovative techniques and technologies to ensure our patients receive the best possible treatment for sleep apnea. One of the many state-of-the-art dental devices we use is the SomnoDent sleep apnea appliance. If you’re unable to adjust to your CPAP system or don’t achieve adequate improvement in sleep with CPAP alone, a SomnoDent oral appliance may be just what you need. If you’d like to find out more about oral appliance therapy, contact our State College dentist and team to schedule a sleep apnea consultation today. We’ll review your case and help you decide whether or not oral appliance therapy using SomnoDent is the best way to improve your sleep.
What is Sleep Apnea?
Sleep apnea is a common sleep disorder that effects millions of US adults. Apnea is the cessation of breathing for ten or more seconds at a time. Most people experience a few of these incidents during sleep, but when the repeated apnea events effect the quality of sleep, patients should seek out treatment. There are two types of sleep apnea – central and obstructive. Central sleep apnea is actually a neurological issue, and it will need to be treated immediately in partnership with a medical sleep specialist. Obstructive sleep apnea occurs because the airway is physically blocked. This is the type of apnea we treat at State College Dental Sleep Medicine.
How do Dentists Treat Sleep Apnea?
Dentists have advanced training that allows them to completely understand the way oral and facial structures work together. When patients suffer from obstructive sleep apnea, the problem is typically an issue with the inter working of the mouth, throat, and airway. If you’ve ever completed CPR certification, you know that lifting the jaw is the best way to open the airway. Dentists can use oral appliances to shift the jaw forward in just this way. The shifting of the jaw places pressure on the throat muscles in order to keep the airway clear, so you can breathe and sleep deeply throughout the night.
Why SomnoDent?
Of all the oral appliances we can use to treat sleep apnea, the SomnoDent line offers a number of advantages including:
- Custom crafted for a comfortable fit even for patients with missing teeth and denture wearers
- Non-restrictive allowing patients to speak clearly, yawn, or drink with the appliance in place
- Easily adjusted to ensure ideal improvement you can advance your jaw more over time to achieve the best possible results
- 91% of SomnoDent users experienced improved sleep!