Tag Archives: obstructive sleep apnea

A Healthy Mouth and Healthy Aging

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For over 20 years, September has been designated healthy aging month. This is an annual celebration of the positive side to growing older. During this month, a variety of sources provide Inspiration and ideas for baby boomers and adults aged 45 and above to help them to improve their physical, mental, social, as well as financial well-being.  It is our hope that we at Designs For Dental Health can provide some pertinent information to contribute to our fellow baby boomers.

healthy-aging-logo

It is interesting to note that there are over 76 million baby boomers today over the age of fifty and the first of the 82 million Generation X-ers are about to reach that milestone in 2015.  Why not use September as a time to look back on where you’ve been and consider what you might truly like to do with the rest of your life.  If you’re happy and fulfilled with what you’re currently doing, keep on keeping on!  If not, this is definitely the time to make a change.  From my point of view, I’m happy to keep on doing what we, as your dental care providers, love to do most.  Help to keep you healthy! dreamstime_l_21764121

So, with that in mind, here’s our question for you today: How’s your smile? 

  

First of all, research supports the idea that those who smile more are just plain happier.  Secondly, those with a healthy mouth are much less likely to develop a myriad of diseases commonly suffered by those of us in the 60+ population. So ask yourself- when is the last time that you had a comprehensive dental examination to determine your overall oral health and the best methods used to maintain it?  I promise to provide such a comprehensive examination free of charge for anyone over age 55 who has been a patient in our practice for more than 5 years and who requests it.  That’s right!  All you have to do is ask! I’ll sit down with you for as long as it takes to discuss your concerns and desires.  Then, we’ll do a comprehensive examination including an oral cancer screening, evaluation of your teeth, gums, and bite. Together, we’ll discuss any options that might be available to you to improve your dental health and from that discussion we will arrive at the best treatment plan for you.

 

Consider this – a mere 60 years ago, it was assumed that we would lose all of our natural teeth as we aged.  Now we know that a healthy mouth and teeth will help you to not only look good, but to eat delicious and nutritious foods, to speak clearly and to be confident.  An excellent quality of life demands a vibrantly healthy mouth.  Just consider the fact that those whose oral health is subpar are at risk for various serious medical conditions including: heart disease, stroke, diabetes, pneumonia, cancer, and various other diseases which are common in older adults.

 

What are some common oral health problems?

 

  1. Dry mouth.   Reduced salivary flow is most commonly the result of cancer treatments, the use of certain medications, and certain diseases. Dry mouth is a significant cause of decay and gum disease in older patients because saliva serves to buffer acids that are produced as we eat.  Without the protection of these buffers, rapidly advancing problems occur. 

  2. Darkened teeth.   Our teeth tend to darken with time as the pulp in our teeth recedes and the outer layer of enamel becomes thinner, thus allowing the darker dentin to show through. There are various methods available to whiten the teeth for a more youthful appearance.  These techniques do not harm teeth and most patients are extremely happy with their whiter, more beautiful smiles. 

  3. Root decay. As the gums recede, exposure of the tooth roots result. Exposed root surfaces are less resistant to decay than enamel and decay here is quite common. Good brushing and plaque removing habits go a long way to protect these surfaces. In addition, the judicious use of fluoride rinses can be most helpful to protect these exposed surfaces. 

  4. Gum disease. Inflammation of the gums and resulting bone loss in more advanced cases is quite common in adults over the age of 50.  Gum disease is worsened by poorly fitting tooth restorations, less than ideal dietary choices, and certain diseases like anemia, cancer, and diabetes.  The best way to fight gum disease is to practice excellent oral hygiene and have regular dental exams and cleanings as recommended in your particular case. 

  5. Tooth loss. Gum disease is the number one cause of tooth loss; however, teeth which have broken due to old, large silver fillings or simple attrition require prompt attention to avoid unnecessary loss of teeth!  Restoring a broken tooth is always better and less expensive than losing a tooth and later trying to replace it. 

  6. Uneven jawbone. This common problem is a result of premature tooth loss.  Once a tooth is lost, the bone previously around that root vanishes and teeth adjacent to and opposing the missing tooth will shift.  This causes an uneven bite and places for food and bacteria to become trapped. 

  7. Oral cancer. Routine examinations are essential to identify possible cancerous conditions in the mouth. Always report unusual lumps or bumps or discolorations to your dentist or hygienists promptly! 

So what is the best way to maintain your good oral health?  It’s the same regardless of your age!    

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  1. Brush at least twice a day with good quality toothpaste as recommended by your dentist or hygienist. The most important time to brush is just before bed!! 

  1. Floss or otherwise thoroughly clean between your teeth at least one time each day. 

  1. Visit your dentist or hygienist on a regular basis as recommended by them for regular cleanings and oral examinations.  

  1. Use appropriate rinses or fluorides or other such adjuncts as recommended by your dental professionals. 

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If you have any questions about healthy aging month or would like a complementary comprehensive examination please call us at 908.359.6655 or contact us via our website at www.DesignsForDentalHealth.com

Snoring, Sleep Apnea and Dentistry

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Continuing our discussion concerning the health connection between the mouth and the body, we will review the condition known as Obstructive Sleep Apnea, its common symptoms and what can be done to minimize the potentially devastating effects of this disease.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea or OSA is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which patients repeatedly stop and restart breathing during sleep. The throat muscles intermittently relax during the sleep cycles, and the airway becomes  temporarily blocked.  The muscles normally support the soft palate and tongue. When these muscles relax, the airway either narrows or closes as a breath is taken, and the flow of air is blocked. As a result the blood level of oxygen is reduced, the nervous system thereby senses impaired breathing and awakens the patient so that an open airway is restored. These events can occur as many as forty or even more times each hour throughout the night. The end result is an inability to reach the normal, deep, restful and necessary phases of sleep.  This lack of quality sleep results in sleep deprivation.

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People with sleep apnea usually snore (often loudly), may wake during the night with  gasping or choking, or may seem to stop breathing periodically according to their bed partners. OSA is most commonly seen in middle-aged and older adults and people who are overweight.  Men are more frequently affected, but women and children may also exhibit symptoms of Sleep Apnea.

Common signs and symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea include:

  • Snoring (often loudly)
  • Episodes of interrupted breathing during sleep
  • Abrupt  awakenings during the night
  • Daytime drowsiness
  • Dry mouth or sore throat in the morning
  • Morning headaches
  • Mood changes including depression or irritability insomnia

In addition, certain factors increase the likelihood of a patient’s having Obstructive Sleep Apnea.  Those with one or more of these signs are urged to speak with their primary care physician about the need to be tested for OSA. These factors include:

  • Being overweight
  • Having a neck size greater than 17 inches for men and 16 inches for women
  • Having high blood pressure especially if resistant to medications
  • Having a narrow airway possibly due to enlarged tonsils and/or adenoids
  • Chronic nasal congestion
  • Diabetes — type I or 2
  • Family history of sleep apnea
  • Smoking
  • Frequent use of alcohol

 

If a patient is unaware of their Sleep Apnea condition or if is left untreated, a variety of complications may develop.  Conditions associated with OSA include:

  • Cardiovascular problems including high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, heart attack, as well as heart failure and stroke and heart arrhythmias.
  • Daytime drowsiness, fatigue and irritability as well as difficulty concentrating.
  • Children with OSA may have problems in school and commonly have attention or behavior disorders.
  • Sleep deprived partners — commonly bed partners may choose to sleep in a separate room.

 

In addition to seeking the advice of your doctor, there are steps that you can take to at least minimize the effects of OSA.

  • Try to sleep on your side
  • Avoid drinking alcohol close to bedtime
  • If you are drowsy, avoid driving or using machinery
  • If you are overweight  lose weigh
  • Exercise regularly
  • Quit smoking
  • Use nasal decongestant

If you are diagnosed as having Obstructive Sleep Apnea, there are three traditional therapies which are used to control this condition.   The first is positive airway pressure in which a device called a CPAP is worn over the nose and/or mouth while you sleep.   It employs a steady stream of air to maintain an open airway.

Continuous Positive Air Pressure (CPAP)

Continuous Positive Air Pressure (CPAP)

The second is a dental appliance which is designed to hold the jaw in a downward and forward position.  In this position, the tongue and soft tissue at the back of the mouth are held  to effectively maintain an open airway. These devices are also used to minimize or eliminate snoring.

                                      Sleep Appliance
                                              Somnodent Sleep Appliance

Third, there are various surgical procedures which may be appropriate for some patients.

If you have any questions about obstructive sleep apnea or the oral appliances which are used to treat this disease, please call us at 908.359.6655 or via our website at www.DesignsForDentalHealth.com

 

 

 

Crooked Teeth and Sleep Apnea

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As I mentioned in our last blog, we will be describing various connections between oral health and systemic (or total body) health. Today, I’d like to report on a very interesting class which I attended about a week ago. This was an Invisalign Study Club meeting which was meant to increase our skills in planning Invisalign orthodontic cases. But, every now and then, we watch a gifted speaker provide you with much more information than the announced topic would suggest.

My longtime patients know that I have been a lifelong student of dentistry and especially occlusion’s (the bite’s) role in preserving dental health for the long term. I have studied the various connections between occlusion and overall health including TMD and head/neck pain, occlusion and advancing gum disease, as well as occlusion and the airway to name but a few.

Well, at this particular lecture, the speaker showed slides of various patients with crowded teeth as well as some with narrow dental arches. Many of these patients, like many of those I see every day in my office, have what we call, tori, on the inside of their lower jaws. Patients are often aware of these tori, most are generally not bothered by them, but some ask if they should be concerned about them. I had always considered these to be a sign of patients who are chronic clenchers of their teeth, and many of them are. However, the speaker made a legitimate case for the chronic growth of these tori in patients whose teeth are tipped towards the tongue.

Anatomy-of-Obstructive-Sleep-Apnea (1)

But perhaps I am getting off of the point. The combination of people who have narrow jaws and tooth crowding are very likely to have sleep apnea. I have always known that there is a connection between narrow jaws and sleep apnea, but this presentation made it so clear that patients like those described above do not have adequate space in their mouth for their tongues. As a result, their tongues are forced back into their airways, and the result is sleep apnea.

Such patients may have had orthodontics when they were children,and had four teeth extracted because of their crowding. Such patients are quite likely to have sleep apnea because their jaws are narrow and their teeth have been moved back to where the tongue wants to be to close the space created by the extracted teeth. The tongue is thereby forced to rest towards the airway. Now, I am considering whether or not to treat such patients orthodontically to expand their arches. This is one means of improving their airways and reducing their likelihood of developing obstructive sleep apnea.

When such patients come to my office, they must be carefully screened for obstructive sleep apnea, high blood pressure, adult onset diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other systemic issues which are related to obstructive sleep apnea.

If you have a bite which sounds like the type that I have described above, please contact us so that we can perform a proper screening for obstructive sleep apnea. If you have any questions about your occlusion or sleep apnea, please feel free to contact us by telephone at 609.359.6655 or via our website at www.DesignsForDentalHealth.com

Free Sleep Apnea Screenings Offered in November

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Again this year, we are offering free Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) screenings during the month of November. This is our way of giving thanks for all the blessings which we have received during the year, and it is our hope that we may potentially save a life by providing this service.

 Sleep apnea is a serious condition with potentially life-threatening side effects. Most people are not at all aware of this condition and certainly do not think that it affects them.  People who have Obstructive Sleep Apnea are at risk for various medical conditions including:

  •  Adult onset diabetes (the #1 growing disease currently in the US!)
  • High blood pressure (especially when resistant to treatment)
  • Anxiety and depression
  •   Daytime sleepiness
  •  Heart attacks and strokes
  •   Gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD)

In addition, OSA patients are prone to daytime sleepiness which places them at risk when driving. Also, these patients may struggle with diet-resistant weight gain.  Such patients frequently lose significant weight when treated for their sleep apnea condition.

If you have any of the above symptoms or conditions, or have been told that you snore or stop breathing while asleep – or you just sleep poorly – perhaps finding out if sleep apnea is the problem may be the prudent thing to do. The screening is very quick and easy. It involves a history form and a brief examination, after which a preliminary diagnosis can immediately be made.

This offer is available to all of our patients as well as their friends, family, and coworkers. Please take advantage of this service! The first step is to determine if you are at risk for sleep apnea.   Once a diagnosis is established, there are various ways to control the condition, allow you to sleep better, live healthier and feel great!

Call us at 908.359.6655 or visit our website at www.DesignsForDentalHealth.com to schedule your free screening.

Have a wonderful holiday!

Richard M Nadler DMD, FAGD and the Designs For Dental Health Team

Happily Ever After: A Snoring Appliance Leads to Love

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Editors Note: This story is from a peer of ours who attends our same post-doctoral institute. We all know about the dangers of drunk driving; but, in fact, sleepy drivers are perhaps more dangerous and more common!  The patient described in this story realized he needed a snoring appliance for just that reason.  In the end, it helped him far more than for just getting a restful night’s sleep to drive safer…

I will never, make that NEVER, forget the second “snoring device” I ever made was for a guy sitting in the next operatory. He overheard me as I was describing the first snoring device I had ever made.  He came into the room and said, “I have to have one of those!  I just fell asleep during a red light on my way over here!”

This was 1984-5 and this was a “Snoring Appliance”.  I was, to indulge in some understatement, blithely unaware of all the health-related issues that this entailed.

While discussing his problem at the appointment the next day, he looked at me in that vulnerable, sleepy-eyed, basset hound way and said words to this effect: 

“Doc, I am serious about a woman. We have both been married and divorced, and have been dating for a couple of years. We think it is the real thing and we want to get married. We really love each other. So, we took the trip of a Lifetime together to Hawaii. It was a wonderful trip except………

 

the first morning I woke up and there was a note on her pillow:

 

Dear XX,

I love you dearly.  But, I cannot marry you and sleep in the same bed with you because of your snoring. I am in room #201, call me to discuss this.

 

Doc, can you help me?”

Well, I made him the appliance that I knew at the time. And it, luckily, stopped him from snoring. I got a call from the newly wed Mrs. XX, who called and said, graciously, “Thank You”. She also shared with me what a dilemma she faced when confronted for the first time as an adult sleeping with a freight train sound next to her. And that this crazy device saved their relationship and they got married after all!

THE END

True story.  And because it happened so early in my efforts, I have always believed we can help, at least in some way or another.

 

For Your Health: Sleeping in Sync with Your Partner

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Sleep Disorders and Sleep Problems

“A 2005 survey by the non-profit advocacy group National Sleep Foundation found that more than a quarter of co-habitating American adults lose sleep from their partner’s sleep issues, and nearly one in four adults spend the night in separate beds or bedrooms because of those problems.”

       -Huffington Post

Sleep problems affect your sleep partner too!There are many sleep issues that can affect not just the person with the problem, but also the person sleeping (or trying to sleep) next to them.  From the noise of snoring, grinding and sleep talking to nighttime ninja fights with those who thrash in their sleep, sleeping partners can suffer from a lack of sleep.

Percentage of Americans suffering from sleep problems:

  • Thrashing 0.5%
  • Sleep Walking   3.6%
  • Sleep Talking    5%
  • Grinding Teeth/Bruxism   8%
  • Chronic Insomnia 10-15%
  • Snoring   59%

Of all of these problems, snoring is by far the most common and widespread, keeping partners from getting a good night of restful sleep.  The lack of sleep can affect their daily life, their ability to concentrate, their attitude and mood, even their health.  According to the Huffington Post article Sleep Problems, “The health benefits of sleep go far beyond feeling rested the next day. Insufficient sleep has been linked with numerous chronic conditions, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and depression. So much so that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now considers getting sufficient ZZZs — from seven to nine hours per night — an important matter of public health.”

What exactly can you do if your partner’s sleep problems or sleep disorder is becoming your own sleep problem?

Couples have many ways of dealing with these sleep problems.  As mentioned above, almost 25% of American couples have gone so far as to sleep in separate rooms or beds.  If the problems are affecting the couple’s health and relationship, there are ways that professionals can help, depending on the issue.  Sleep studies, medications, behavioral therapy, nighttime orthotics and snoring appliances may help bring some nighttime rest depending on the specific problem.  Sometimes the solution can be as small as rearranging the sleep environment to help promote more restful sleep.

The solutions vary greatly depending on the problems, and whether they are due to a full-blown sleep disorder or just a few minor, manageable symptoms.  However, no matter how minor it may seem, if your sleep is being affected by your partner’s sleeping problems, there will be a toll on your physical and emotional health — as well your relationship.

If you have any questions about how sleep problems and disorders can affect your health we’ll be happy to send pertinent information to you.  If you would like to make an appointment for a sleep apnea screening, please call 908-359-6655.

LINKS AND RESOURCES

2005 Sleep Survey by the Sleep Foundation: 

Sleep Problems: How Your And Your Partner Can Sleep In Sync

WebMD: What to Do When Your Sleep Partner Has a Sleep Disorder

Learn more about the hidden health risks of sleep disorders in our series of articles and posts about Sleep Apnea