A sleep apnea dentist has special training, education, and knowledge to evaluate and treat airway problems. A sleep apnea dentist works with primary care physicians and board-certified sleep doctors to help patients treat their obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). After receiving an OSA diagnosis from a sleep physician along with a prescription for a mandibular advancement device, a sleep apnea dentist can administer oral appliance therapy for sleep apnea.
Your Pasadena, Texas Sleep Dentists Drs. West and Nugent are usually the first professional to spot a potential sleep apnea issue. When they suspect that you have OSA or if you are experiencing any sleep apnea symptoms, they will order a home sleep test. The home sleep test is easy to use. A company will send the equipment to your house. You wear the equipment for two nights of sleep and send the equipment back in the prepaid envelop. Then a board-certified sleep physician reads the data and renders a diagnosis. The sleep physician will indicate if an oral appliance will benefit your sleep apnea. Then you return to our office and will begin the processes of making you an mandibular advancement device.
Sleep Dentistry
Sleep dentistry is an area of dentistry where oral appliance therapy is used to treat sleep apnea and even snoring. Your Pasadena Sleep Dentists works closely with a sleep specialist to determine the best dental sleep solutions to treat your individual case.
For mild to moderate sleep apnea cases behavioral changes like losing weight, quitting smoking, switching your sleep position, or having fabricating an oral appliance. This dental appliance helps reposition your tongue and jaw downward and forward to improve airflow and to prevent obstruction of the trachea.
Benefits of Oral Appliance Therapy for Sleep Apnea
This type of therapy is very effective, non-invasive, and can be fitted into your lifestyle very easily. Some benefits of an oral appliance for sleep apnea include:
- Easy to wear
- Quiet
- Portable
- Comfortable
- Allows the user to sleep in any position (no tubes like CPAP)
- Simple to take care of
- Convenient when traveling
Making and Fitting Your Oral Appliance
Your oral appliance is adapted in a dental lab for you specifically and is created with physical or digital models and impressions of your teeth. When your sleep apnea appliance is ready, Drs. West or Nugent will adjust and fits it to maximize its effectiveness and comfort. You will be taught how to maintain and clean it thoroughly. Your sleep apnea dentist will also schedule you for another sleep study several weeks after appliance delivery. During this time before the sleep test the appliance is titrated in order to find the optimal jaw position. Then another home sleep test is performed to verify that the appliance is working and lessening your apnea events.
Obstructive sleep apnea is a serious and often complex disorder. We encourage you to talk with us and let us show you how we can help lessen the deadly effects of sleep apnea.
Call our Pasadena Texas office at 832-487-0647 today or come visit us at 3421 Burke Rd #1, Pasadena Texas 77504.
