You deserve a great night’s sleep and Dr. William can help.
Sleep apnea and snoring are two closely related health conditions that can harm your health and your relationships.
Dr. William Stewart, DMD, through his service as a captain in the US Army Dental Corps, brings a wealth of dental sleep appliance experience to our family dental practice. In the military, Dr. William was able to sharpen his clinical skills and practical knowledge by assisting sleep physicians in treating patients with sleep apnea through the use of custom sleep therapy devices for our service members.
You’ve heard of sleep apnea, but how do you know if you have it? Sleep apnea can be difficult to diagnose without a proper sleep study, but if you suffer from the following symptoms, you should explore them with your dentist and physician:
- Excessive daytime sleepiness
- Decreased mental clarity
- Troublesome snoring
- Impotence, loss of libido
- Mood swings and irritability
- Morning headaches
Wait... aren’t those all symptoms of... normal life? Yes. And no. We all feel a little sluggish and foggy from time to time, but if these symptoms have become chronic - if you’re feeling this way most of the time - then it’s time to explore sleep apnea. Your health depends on it.
If you suffer from sleep apnea, it means that your jaw becomes so relaxed during sleep that it falls backwards, blocking the upper portion of your airway, and making your brain think that you’re suffocating. That causes an adrenaline rush which forces your body to wake up, gasping for air - until you drift off to sleep again. And then it happens all over again. All night long.
Thanks to sleep apnea, low oxygen levels and poor sleep quality, you could be at risk for some pretty serious health problems:
- Increased risk of heart attack, hypertension, congestive heart failure
- Increased risk of stroke (the risk more than doubles in men)
- Increased risk of motor vehicle accidents
- Decreased life expectancy (if sleep apnea is left untreated)
- Weight gain from increased insulin resistance and glucose tolerance
A Simple Solution
Talk to Dr. William today about working with your primary care physician or a sleep physician to see if a custom MAD (Mandibular Advancement Device), the most common dental sleep device for treating sleep apnea and snoring, might be an option for you. These customized oral devices work by keeping the jaw in a forward position while you sleep to maintain an open airway. In some cases, the MAD can serve as an alternative to CPAP therapy.