Sleep Apnea

Sleep Disordered Breathing, or Sleep Apnea, is a disorder where there is intermittent loss of breathe. This is most often caused by narrowing of the airway and/or airway collapse. When you stop breathing, your oxygen levels drop and your heart rate goes up. The decrease in oxygen and increase in heart rate caused by the sudden awakenings put stress on the heart. This can happen hundreds of times per night and has been documented to cause blood pressure to rise which leads to hypertension as well as several other health related problems. Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) occurs when the airway is temporarily compromised or collapsed causing you to stop breathing anywhere from 10 to 90 seconds.

Snoring and OSA are both breathing disorders that occur during sleep caused by partial or complete airway closure. OSA is a serious condition and in many cases it can result in excessive daytime sleepiness, high blood pressure, reflux, irregular heart beat and possibly heart attack or stroke.

You know it instinctively: A good night's sleep is essential for good health. It makes you feel rested and ready to take on the world. Yet many people don't get the sleep they need. Sometimes this is related to sleep-related breathing disorders (SRBD) - their own, or those experienced by their sleeping partners.

SRBD is characterized by recurrent episodes of reduced or interrupted respiratory airflow. This is caused by soft tissues near the back of the throat collapsing during sleep so that they partially close off the windpipe. These tissues - the tongue, for example - can vibrate as air passes by, causing snoring. Snoring is often worsened sleeping on one's back because this encourages the lower jaw to slip back, which in turn pushes the tongue in front of the airway.

Loud snoring often disturbs the person in the bed who isn't the one doing it, robbing him or her of vital sleep. The snorer, on the other hand, may seem to be slumbering peacefully, but this might not actually be the case. Chronic loud snoring is a common symptom of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA; "a" - without; "pnea" - breath), which occurs when the upper airway is blocked to the point of causing significant airflow disruption, or even no airflow whatsoever for 10 seconds or more. This can be dangerous as reduced airflow into the lungs lowers blood-oxygen levels.

A person with sleep apnea may wake 50 or more times per hour - that's almost once a minute! - without having any memory of it. These awakenings, called micro-arousals, last just long enough to restore muscle tone to the airway so the individual can breathe. Unfortunately, all those micro-arousals preclude deep and restful sleep.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea is a serious matter as it can lead to heart problems and other health issues. It's possible you may have OSA if you snore and also suffer from any of the following:

• Excessive daytime sleepiness
• Irritability
• Poor memory/confusion
• Accident proneness
• Night sweats
• Morning headaches
• High blood pressure
• Obesity
• Snoring
• Waking frequently during the night
• Breathing that stops and starts (gasping)
• Concentration difficulties
• Lost Productivity

• Snoring
• Irritability
• Sleepiness during the day
• Waking frequently during the night
• Breathing that stops and starts (gasping)
• Concentration difficulties
• Lost Productivity

Did you know that you can now take a sleep test in the comfort of your own home? Home sleep tests are becoming the standard method of testing for Medicare and most PPO medical insurance companies. We can partner with your Primary Care Physician to get coverage details and other required documentation. The out of pocket cost for a home sleep test is generally lower than the cost of a lab fee.

We also offer our patients the option to take home our device we have in our office. If not done through medical insurance, our office charges $150 to take the device home for a one night study.

In order to determine if a patient has sleep apnea, a home test or a polysomnogram in a lab must be performed and analyzed by a Board Certified Sleep Physician.

Weight loss and exercise can help lower the severity of sleep apnea. However, most patients require Medical and Dental treatments available including Oral Appliance Therapy (OAT), Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), or surgery.

Oral Appliance Therapy (OAT) is now the first line of treatment according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine for mild to moderate sleep disordered breathing. It is achieved with a custom fabricated oral appliance that re-positions the lower jaw, tongue, soft palate, and uvula to keep the airway open during sleep. It stabilizes the lower jaw and tongue and increases muscle tone of the tongue. While documented studies have shown that oral appliances have substantially reduced and sleep apnea, there is no guarantee that it will be successful for every patient. It is often a viable alternate to CPAP therapy. This treatment option is non-invasive and can be highly effective for both sleep apnea and snoring. For severe OSA patients, a CPAP is the standard first line of treatment. However, if intolerable, an oral appliance can be prescribed by your physician as an alternative.

Dental oral appliances can be helpful treatment for snoring, Upper Airway Respiratory Syndrome (UARS), and sleep apnea. Appliances are easy to wear and generally only take a few weeks to adjust to. Patients like the oral appliance option because it is light, easy to travel with, and quiet unlike the CPAP.

Deciding upon the appropriate model and type of device will be decided upon between you and Dr. Bennardo. Dr. Bennardo will do a thorough exam to come up with the best treatment option for you.

CPAP therapy is provided by a bedside machine that delivers pressurized air through a tube that connects to a mask, covering the nose. There are many different mask designs available to try. It is important to find the mask that works for you.