Sleep Apnea Comes in Different Types

Sleep Apnea Comes in Different Types

Sleep apnea affects over 18 million adults and up to 20% of habitually snoring children in the United States alone. Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder characterized by brief, repeated interruptions to normal breathing during sleep. It can have many short and long-term effects on a person’s health and is also very harmful to oral health.

Sleep Apnea Comes in Different Types

The most common type of sleep apnea is obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). It is caused by a blocked airway, usually the tongue relaxing back until it collapses against the soft palate, which in turn collapses against the back of the throat, sealing off the airway.

Less commonly, a person could have central sleep apnea, in which the brain fails to send signals to the respiratory muscles to keep breathing during sleep. Some people have a combination of both types, which is called complex sleep apnea.

Whether the airway is physically blocked or the brain isn’t sending signals to breathe, the lack of oxygen causes the brain to react in alarm and force the person to wake up long enough to take a breath. They usually don’t remember waking up because it only lasts a few seconds, but it can happen as many as hundreds of times in a single night, making it impossible to get a restful night’s sleep. The cumulative effect on sleep quality can be severe.

Sleep Apnea and Oral Health

Aside from having to deal with symptoms of sleep deprivation like morning headaches, exhaustion, and difficulty concentrating, sleep apnea means oral health difficulties.

Sleep apnea is associated with an increased risk of moderate to severe gum disease and temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD). This is because the jaw reflexively clenches in an effort to keep the airway open during a sleep apnea episode. This kind of TMD issue can compound, leading to problems like pain when chewing, neck and shoulder pain, damaged teeth, and chronic headaches.

The Dentist Can Help

It is so common to experience dental symptoms with sleep apnea that the dentist is often the first health care professional to observe the signs and diagnose the condition. That’s one good reason of many to keep up with your and your child’s regular dental appointments.

Common ways sleep apnea is treated include nighttime dental devices that adjust the position of the jaw and tongue and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines.

Please discuss these problems at your visit with Dr. Taller located at 3601 Waldo Ave. Riverdale, NY to answer your questions.

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