People who snore often joke that their partner complains about sleepless nights or that some nights they even get banished to another room. However snoring or sleep apnea can have more serious health implications than just a poor night's sleep for you and your partner.

Sleep apnea is the partial obstruction of the airways usually occuring during sleep when a person snores. The airway obstruction occurs when the soft tissues of the mouth and throat relax when lying down and can last for a couple of seconds to a couple of minutes leading to a lack of oxygen which awakens you. Quite often the person does not fully awake and is not aware that they have spent the night continually waking & dozing off to sleep again.

People who have sleep apnea often awake in the morning feeling tired and unrefreshed. This tiredness can lead to other problems including poor concentration, irritability, fatigue and more serious health problems.

There are a few different ways to treat sleep apnea. For patients with moderate to severe sleep apnea it is generally recommended that a sleep study is carried out to assess the degree of apnea and the best treatment to help treat their sleep problems.

There are now dental appliances that can be used to treat sleep apnea. These work by opening up the airway during sleep, resulting in little to no snoring and allowing sleep apnea sufferers to obtain uninterrupted sleep and to awake feeling refreshed and rested. These appliances vary and can be made for people with either low grade or moderate to severe sleep apnea. There are also appliances that can help just with the cessation of snoring even if there is no evidence of sleep apnea.

A lot of patients with sleep apnea find that dental appliances are easier to use and less cumbersome than other conventional methods (CPAP) to treat sleep apnea and are particularly handy for traveling.

If you think you or your partner may have an issue with snoring and sleep apnea, Dr Fleming and his team are more than happy to have a chat with you and answer any questions you may have to address the issue. 

Please be aware that each case must be assessed individually by the dentist.