Sleep Apnea Treatments at Ellicott City Smiles

Sometimes snoring is just snoring, but many times it’s not. Rather, your snoring could be a symptom of a more serious condition called Obstructive Sleep Apnea. In some cases this respiration disorder can lead to strokes and heart irregularities.

At Ellicott City Smiles, one of our emphases is increasing awareness of the Oral-Systemic Health Connection. The health of our entire body is integrally connected to the health of our mouth, and a disease in the mouth can trigger systemic problems in the body as well. The body is connected from head to toe, from mouth to heart. In the case of Obstructive Sleep Apnea, we have found that the improper positioning of the jaw while a person sleeps is one of the leading causes of snoring (the sound that results from you trying to breathe, couple with partial obstructions in your airway). Repositioning the jaw, in most cases of mild to moderate snoring, opens that airway and results in easy, unobstructed breathing. Which is to say—no snoring. Wearing specially designed oral appliances while sleeping has been the most successful solution for thousands of people with Obstructive Sleep Apnea and other snoring problems.

How Sleep Apnea Works Against Your Health

Many people with obstructive sleep apnea stop breathing for long pauses (anywhere from a few seconds to minutes) during the night, often due to obstructions in the airway, notably the relaxing of throat muscles and the tongue. When your breathing stops, carbon dioxide builds up in the blood stream until your brain is alerted to the oxygen deprivation and communicates to your body to wake up and breathe! The gasping and snorting sounds a person with obstructive sleep apnea makes during sleep is the body fighting to take in that air. Without enough oxygen, our brain cells die; and when these episodes habitually reoccur anywhere from 30 to over a hundred times each night, night after night, over time the body is also getting less and less of the necessary deep REM sleep it needs, which leaves you tired into the next day. It is not a coincidence that the majority of strokes occur in the early hours of the morning, while a person is still sleeping.

Feeling drained of energy and never fully excited and awake is no kind of way to life your life. (There is a reason why Amnesty International considers sleep deprivation as a form a torture; without enough sleep, our brain is not able to function well at all. Over time, sleep deprivation wreaks havoc on your immune system, learning capabilities, memory, moods, and much more.)

Oral Appliance Therapy Can Help You Sleep Soundly

Dental science has developed simple and safe oral appliance devices designed to anatomically position the jaw in ways that increase airflow and prevent the tongue from obstructing your airway. Not only can oral appliances enable you to breathe easily and deeply, but they can reduce or even eliminate your snoring entirely. For people who sleep with partners, you know that snoring and other disruptive nightly habits affects everyone in bed, not just the snorer. 

If you have obstructive sleep apnea or snoring problems (often warning signs for obstructive sleep apnea), you really do owe it to yourself to seek help.

In severe cases of obstructive sleep apnea, the best treatment option is wearing a CPAP breathing machine while sleeping.  Luckily for you, most cases of obstructive sleep apnea are mild to moderate, and the best treatment option for mild to moderate cases is hands-down wearing an oral appliance while sleeping. CPAP machines are not by any means evil, they actually save their wearers’ lives; CPAP machines are, as a standard, disliked by most of their wearers, nevertheless. The bulk of the CPAP can be uncomfortable to sleep with and socially awkward for other people to see. With oral appliance therapy, in contrast, the oral appliance actually re-trains the muscles of your jaw to hold it in the most ergonomic position. This means that over time, your jaw will learn how to rest in a position that is not obstructing your airway and slowly killing you. In addition to the recovery aspect of oral appliance therapy, there is no bulky equipment involved and few people have any complaints.

We are here for You

Has anyone ever told you that you snore?

If you feel tired when you wake up in the morning or lack-lustre during the day, you may have some form of a sleep disorder. If you wake up in the night or have snoring concerns, you may have some form of a sleep disorder. When it comes down to it, if you are concerned about your sleeping or snoring problems, please contact us! We would be happy to set up a consultation appointment, and discuss how oral appliance therapy may be the best treatment for your obstructive sleep apnea and snoring problems.

During the consultation, we will discuss your concerns and evaluate your respiratory capacity and airway. If the signs point to obstructive sleep apnea, we’ll then send you home with an easy to use monitor to wear during a night’s sleep (much simpler and more cost effective than sending you so a sleep centre!), and afterward we will go over the results together. If your results do yield mild or moderate obstructive sleep apnea, we can then fit you for the oral appliance that best suits your needs.

At our practice, we will always center your needs, desires and limitations from the moment you first make contact with our office. We believe that respect and communication are key to any good relationship, and we value our relationships with our patients above all else.

Dr. Damian Blum is a visionary when it comes to incorporating new digital technologies, computers and lasers into his patients' treatment plans. Dr. Blum will share the newest research findings in the areas of Oral and Systemic Health with you and to your other healthcare providers, in order to give you the best comprehensive care possible. After meeting Dr. Blum and his team, you will realize that you are with people who truly care about you.

At Ellicott City Smiles, we also strive to be a safe environment free of discrimination, regardless of race, age, sex, socio-economic status, different physical or developmental abilities, body size, religion, culture, national origin, citizenship status, sexual preference, familial status, or gender identity.

If you have concerns about having all of your needs and access requirements met at our office, please bring them up when you set up your consultation, and we will discuss how to best meet your needs!