Sleep Disordered Breathing (SDB):
Risk Factors Includes:
Rhinometer:
Pharyngometer:
Oral Appliances:
SDB has been linked to:
Do you snore?
Do you wake up tired in the morning?
Do you suffer from headaches? Acid reflux?
Do you have high blood pressure?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you could be suffering from sleep disordered breathing.
Sleep Disordered Breathing (SDB)
Is defined as labored respiration during sleep caused by airway obstruction. If you suffer from SDB, as you fall asleep you experience a loss of muscle tone called airway patency. The soft tissues in your airway relax against the tongue, partially cutting off air flow to your lungs. SDB can be severe to the point of complete airway collapse. Those who suffer from SDB experience breathing difficulty ranging from mild to acute; snoring, upper airway resistance syndrome (UARS), and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Snoring is always indicative of the development or or existence of a sleep breathing disorder. UARS is more common in younger women, and is often accompanied by headaches, Gastroesophegeal Reflux (GER), and asthma. OSA is, as defined by the National Heart, Lung and blood institute, “a breathing disorder characterized by brief interruptions during sleep… repeated periods of no breathing for at least 10 seconds at a time.” These periods are called apenic events and can last longer than one minute.
Risk Factors Includes:
- Weight gain
- Increasing age
- Family history
- Malformation of the orofacial area (misaligned teeth, jaw,palate)
- Bruxism (teeth grinding)
- Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)
- Menopause
- Progesterone/Estrogen deficiency
- Anatomy and physiology of the airway
Your Dentist can help.
How? Sleep Disorders Dentistry.
Sleep Disorders Dentistry concentrates on reducing respiratory distress (your breathing problems at night) by determining the location and degree of airway obstruction and placing your airway in optimal breathing position to restore its patency.
In order to determine the severity of your sleep disordered breathing problem, your dentist will “map” your nasal passages and your oral airway with a quick and painless technique called Acoustic Reflection Technology. ART draws a picture of your nasal passages and oral airway with sound. After pinpointing the location and degree of the airway obstruction, your dentist will treat you with Oral Appliance Therapy.
When mapping your airway with ART, your dentist employs a suite of diagnostic equipment called Eccovision, a self contained processor emitting soundwaves through two tools: the rhinometer and the pharyngometer.