Not sure why you are snoring? Health risks of sleep apnoea from our dentist

Are you fed up with being banished to the spare room for snoring? Are you irritated by waking up with a headache and a sore throat?

Common in the population, snoring is often seen as an illness in itself, with many pharmacies offering nasal strips and tongue compressors all designed to eliminate snoring altogether. However, snoring is actually a symptom of many underlying medical issues and if you snore regularly (3 times or more a week), you should seek out professional help.

But what’s so problematic about making snorting noises a few times a week while you sleep?

At Walkerston Dental, our team has helped many of our patients overcome snoring and get a restful 40 winks with the use of custom-fitted mouth guards. Our dentist Walkerston will also offer you a health assessment if you come to us with snoring issues, helping to underpin the cause of this issue. After all, sleep is extremely important!

If through our tests we determine that you have obstructive sleep apnoea (a common cause of recurrent snoring), our dentist Walkerston will refer you on for further assessment due to the associated health risks. Are there health risks of untreated sleep apnoea? Read on to find out.

Respiratory issues

A key issue that occurs with sleep apnoea is oxygen deprivation, which is why our dentist Walkerston is so eager to help patients who snore.

Prolonged exposure to nocturnal oxygen deprivation can cause respiratory issues and you will probably begin to feel more out of breath in your daily life.

Depending on the severity of your sleep apnoea, we can help boost your oxygen levels with a night time mouth guard or a continuous positive airway pressure (or CPAP) machine.

Hormone issues

Untreated sleep apnoea has been linked to a whole host of metabolic and endocrine issues, ranging from insulin resistance to high blood pressure.

To avoid these secondary complications, our team will send you for an assessment to determine how severe your apnoea is, which will impact on the choice of treatment we offer to you. Simple!

Digestive issues

There is an interesting link between those who suffer from sleep apnoea and digestive disorders, such as heartburn, acid reflux or gastrointestinal reflux disorder or GERD. As these issues are more likely to occur at night, this can become a vicious cycle.

While you will need to see your doctor for help relieving the symptoms of most gastrointestinal issues, our team can protect your teeth against acid damage with fluoride sealants, while also preventing sleep apnoea with a special custom-fitted mouthpiece.

Cognitive issues

Sleep is important and if you regularly suffer from disturbed sleep due to sleep apnoea, this will have an obvious impact on your ability to function in your daily life and your mental health.

If you are worried about your sleep patterns and have had everything else ruled out by a doctor, visit our dental team for a full assessment and we will get you back to getting good sleep in no time!

DISCLAIMER

All treatment carries risks. Individual consultation is required with one of our practitioners to ensure that the treatment is right for you.