Sleep Apnoea & Snoring Therapy Yarraville
What is sleep apnoea?
Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a common sleep problem where your breathing is reduced, stops and starts while you’re sleeping. This happens because the airway in your throat gets blocked, making it hard for air to reach your lungs.
When your airway gets blocked, you might snore loudly or make choking sounds as your body tries to get air. Even though you’re trying to breathe, oxygen can’t reach your brain. This can happen a few times a night or, in severe cases, hundreds of times.
Why Does The Airway Get Blocked
When you fall asleep, the muscles in your back of your throat relax. This can cause the tissue at the back of your throat to collapse and block your airway. If you sleep on your back, your tongue can also fall backward, narrowing the airway and making it harder to breathe. The blocked airway causes snoring because the tissue in your throat vibrates as you breathe. In more severe cases it can completely block the airway, causing what doctors call an apnoeic episode.
Consequences/ Symptoms Sleep Apnea
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Negative long-term consequences of sleep apnea
The lack of oxygen your body receives can have negative long-term consequences for your health. This includes:
- Hypertension
- Mood disorders – depression
- Brain dysfunction/ dementia
- Heart / Coronary artery disease
- Heart failure
- Atrial fibrillation
- Stroke / Cerebrovascular accident (CVA)
- Diabetes mellitus
- Insomnia
To prevent these complications, it is important to treatment sleep apnoea.
Co-morbid Insomnia and Sleep Apnoea(COMISA)
OSA and insomnia commonly coexist. This has been termed as COMISA.
Approximately 30-50% of OSA patients report clinically significant insomnia symptoms. It is important to identify if both are present and address both conditions separately. Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia is the recommended ‘first line’ treatment for insomnia in Australian general practice.
Investigation for sleep apnea
OSA can be diagnosed during a sleep study or polysomnography (PSG) conducted either in a sleep laboratory or via a home-based sleep study. We can help you organise a sleep study at home.
Treatment options for OSA
In an age of personalized medicine, treatment needs to be personalized to each individual, taking into consideration their pre-existing risk factors, co-morbidities, severity of sleep apnea, personal and lifestyle preferences.
- Lifestyle modification
Losing weight and not sleeping on your back can help improve your sleep apnea. Alcohol and sleeping tablets relax muscles and may worsen sleep apnoea. Minimising their use is important and also avoiding eating close to bedtime can also help.
- Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP )
The Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) helps people breathe easier while they sleep. It works by sending pressurized air through a pump and a mask that you wear over your nose or mouth. This air pressure keeps your throat (airway) open, stopping it from collapsing and causing pauses in breathing.
CPAP is the gold standard of treatment for OSA. Patients with severe OSA should always trial CPAP before considering oral appliance therapy.
- Oral Appliances for snoring & sleep apnoea
What Are Oral Appliances or Mandibular Advancement Devices?
Oral appliances are custom-made to fit perfectly over your upper and lower teeth. Their main job is to move the lower jaw, tongue and soft palate forward. This helps keep the tongue and soft tissues in the back of your throat from collapsing. By keeping the lower jaw and tongue stable and increasing tongue muscle tone, they help keep your airway open while you sleep, improving the oxygen flow.
Custom-made oral appliances work much better than generic ones you can buy at a store or online. Generic devices can be bulky and uncomfortable, making it harder to keep using them. The custom ones are more comfortable and effective at treating sleep aponea and snoring.
Treatment with these devices needs to be closely watched by a dentist, and sometimes a repeat sleep study is needed to make sure the therapy is working well.
Who are oral sleep appliances suitable for?
Oral appliances are well suited for:
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- Those diagnosed with a primary snoring or upper airways resistance syndrome
- Those who have been diagnosed with a mild to moderate Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) who prefer it to Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) or unable to use positional therapy or weight loss to control their apnoea
- Those with a diagnosis of severe OSA if they cannot tolerate CPAP therapy.
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Only a dentist trained in dental sleep medicine can then provide treatment with oral appliance therapy.
The benefits of oral appliance therapy over CPAP include:
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- Ease of use – oral appliances are easy to wear and it takes only a few weeks to adjust to it. The comfort encourages patients to continue wearing the appliances for longer periods of time compared to CPAP
- Small and easy to transport – Oral appliances are discreet, quiet and portable so making it easy to travel with. Unlike CPAP, oral appliances are small enough to fit into your purse or carry-on bag and are suitable for situations like camping when there is no electricity.
- Treatment with oral appliances is reversible and non-invasive.
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Side effects of oral sleep appliances
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- Excessive salivation
- Dry mouth
- Tooth and jaw discomfort
- Temporary bite changes
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However, most of these side effects are minor and resolve quickly on their own or with minor adjustment to the appliance.
Some patients experience potential complications such as jaw pain, permanent bite changes and TMJ symptoms. These complications can be recognized and managed by dentists trained in dental sleep medicine.
- Sleep apnoea and Myofunctional therapy Yarraville
Myofunctional exercises are a series of non-invasive exercises that overtime and with regular practice can strengthen the muscles in your mouth, tongue, and throat. These muscles play a big role in keeping your airway open when you sleep.
For people with sleep apnea, myofunctional exercises can be helpful when used with CPAP or oral appliances. Strengthening the muscles in your airway can reduce the severity of symptoms, like snoring and breathing pauses. However, they might not be enough to fully treat severe sleep apnoea on their own.
We have been providing Myofunctional training programs from 2016.
Why consider our team for Sleep Apnea Therapy in Yarraville?
We have over a decade of experience in this area. Our unique team (combining both a medical doctor and dentist) can help you navigate your journey to better sleep, by organizing sleep studies and helping you find the best therapy for your needs. You can learn about our approach by downloading a copy of “Guide To Oral Appliance Therapy).
