Call Downtown Dental Excellence Today!
(281) 592-0597
Why You Need to Treat Sleep Apnea
While snoring and waking up throughout the night can be extremely annoying, the effects of sleep apnea actually go beyond these minor annoyances. Sleep apnea can lead to a variety of health ailments, including:
- Fatigue
- Memory Loss
- Heart Disease
- Stroke
- Obesity
- Depression
- And More
It is important to treat sleep apnea to reduce your risk of these ailments. In order to treat sleep apnea, though, you need to figure out whether or not you have sleep apnea in the first place.
At Home Testing
There are two main types of sleep apnea testing: sleep studies and home sleep apnea testing. While sleep studies can be useful, they aren’t practical for a lot of patients. Because of this, at-home sleep apnea testing may be the right option. In order to perform home sleep apnea testing, different tools may be used. One is a Medibyte Jr device.
Call Downtown Dental Excellence Today!
(281) 592-0597
Treatment Options
There are various treatment options that can be used to both treat the symptoms and root causes of sleep apnea. For the treatment of the symptoms, many patients will either get a CPAP machine or an oral appliance. While CPAP machines are very effective, they are also very cumbersome. Oral appliances, on the other hand, look and feel a lot like a bite guard that would be used for the treatment of teeth grinding.
Ultimately, the root cause should be treated in order to stop sleep apnea. A lot of the time, this simply means giving up smoking, drinking, and/or eating unhealthy foods.
If you are worried that you may have sleep apnea, speak with your dentist about testing. If the option is available, ask about home testing. This will allow your doctor to diagnose and ultimately treat your sleep apnea.