Often there are dental conditions that may indicate a patient is dealing with sleep apnea. If you are evaluated by a dentist that is experienced in Dental Sleep medicine, these conditions will signal for further testing.
Dental sleep medicine is an area of dental practice that focuses on the use of oral appliance therapy to treat sleep-disordered breathing, including snoring and obstructive sleep apnea.
How do I know if I have Sleep Apnea?
This question is asked frequently. The most common symptom is that someone hears you snoring, gasping, and stop breathing while you sleep. Some people wake themselves gasping for air.
If you find yourself searching for a “pick me up” in the form of an energy drink on a regular basis, lack of quality sleep due to sleep apnea might be the reason.
While these drinks aren’t all bad, moderation is the key. So, before you reach for another Red Bull check out what the energy drinks are doing to your body and also check out our blog post on Sleep Apnea Symptoms.
There are many factors that affect quality of sleep. Some times Sleep Apnea is exacerbated by weight gain which can be attributed to the empty calories found in soda pop.
Most people understand that pop isn’t a good thing to consume in excess. Over the years I’ve had patients drinking up to a 6 pack per day ” instead of coffee” or, they are drinking diet soda pop to reduce the amount sugar they are consuming. It really doesn’t matter though because of all the other effects.
If you suffer from Sleep Apnea, your body is not getting the restorative rest it needs for optimal physical and mental performance. Whether you are training for a Boulder triathlon or marathon, or just want to shave time off of your Saturday morning run, science says more sleep is a key.
For Peak Athletic Performance, Sleep More
High level athletes train vigorously and long. They eat well and work on mental aspects of performance enhancement hoping to gain an edge in their field of competition. Finishing 1st vs 3rd can be fractions of a second, small percentages in consistency, or reaction times.
Sleep Apnea can be a life threatening condition for many reasons. The physical effects on the body increase the risk of heart attack or stroke. And the side effects of lack of restorative sleep can lead to accidents as a result of diminished cognitive ability.
You may think you have learned to function while sleep deprived but the science shows that sleep deprivation compromises your performance. And it gets worse in unfamiliar circumstances or emergencies.
I didn’t know how tired I really was….
This is what I hear from patients that I treat for their sleep apnea. We adapt to many physical limitations over time; that ache in the neck, inability to sit without fidgeting due to back or hip discomfort, etc. What we often don’t notice or fail to acknowledge is a decline in our executive skills. The ability to “multitask” in familiar settings is fairly easy to maintain. New or occasional tasks however, show our decline in what is called “executive function”.
Sleep Apnea could be the cause of drowsy driving leading to car accidents. Sleep apnea is treatable and getting treatment could save your life.
The Boulder Camera reported on a severe multi car accident last week along the diagonal. Some of our staff was delayed in getting to work because of it and thankfully no one was killed in the accident. The cause was reported to be one driver fell asleep and ran through a stop, triggering the multi-car accident. I don’t know if the driver has sleep apnea or was tired from another cause but I do know that sleep apnea, a significant factor in daytime drowsiness, can be treated successfully.
New research on Sleep Apnea and the effects on children and adults, show that early detection and proper treatment can be life altering.
I attended the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine annual meeting this past week. The research that’s being done regarding sleep apnea and the far-reaching consequences on so much of our internal organs and cardiovascular systems as well as our mental daily functioning is quite amazing.
