Practical Practitioner
By: Pamela Egan, FNP-C CDE
Your dentist may be able to help you stop snoring
Kudos’ to Dr. Shannon Allison! I now have a healthful and restful sleep every night! Does your spouse keep you awake each night with loud snoring?
It is estimated that more than 80 million people in North America snore while sleeping.
Spouses and children are often repeatedly disturbed during their sleep cycles by a snoring family member, which can lead to tensions and animosity.
Snoring can kill you, according to a UCLA School of Dentistry study: the struggle for breath can result in soaring blood pressure which can damage the walls of the carotid arteries and increase the risk of stroke.
Fortunately, using the SILENT NITE snore prevention device, dentists can now provide most persons with cost effective relief.
During sleep, the muscles and soft tissues in the throat and mouth relax making the breathing airway smaller. This decrease in the airway space increases the velocity of air flowing through the airway during breathing. As the velocity of required air is increased in the constricted space, soft tissues like the soft palate and the uvula vibrate.
These vibrations of the soft tissues in the mouth and throat result in what is called “noisy breathing” or generally referred to as snoring.
It should also be noted that sleep studies have shown that excess body weight, heavy alcohol consumption and other sedatives have been shown to increase the severity of snoring.
Surgical techniques to remove respiration impairing structures such as uvula, enlarged tonsils and adenoids have been among the many attempted snoring remedies.
These surgical procedures have shown only moderate success rates.
Depending on the severity of the problem, complete blockage of the airway space by the soft tissues and the tongue can occur.
If the period of asphyxiation lasts longer than 10 seconds, this is called Obstructive Sleep Apnea.
OSA can be a serious medical condition and requires a sleep study.
For the majority of snorers however, the most affordable, non-invasive, comfortable, and effective snoring solution remains the dentist prescribed oral snoring preventative device, such as the SILENT NITE.
Snoring research has also shown that custom fabricated dental devices worn at night that move the lower jaw into a forward position, increase the three dimensional space in the airway tube which reduces air velocity and soft tissue vibration.
By increasing the volumetric capacity of the airway and preventing soft tissue vibrations, snoring is eliminated.
In clinical research studies, these dentists prescribed oral devices have exhibited initial snoring prevention success rates of between 70 to 100 percent.
The SILENT NITE device positions the lower jaw into a forward position.
An impression of your teeth is made by your dentist.
The mouth piece is custom laminated with heat and pressure to the dentist’s model of the mouth. The fit is excellent and comfortable.
I would have never believed that there was such a simple, non-invasive product that could promote deeper, more restful sleep by preventing snoring. It makes all the difference in the world!
This article was originally published June 6, 2005 in The St. Tammany News.
PamelaEgan.com > Health Articles > Health and Wellness
