Sleep Apnea Treatment in Austin, TX

There are several warning signs of sleep apnea, which include tiredness during the day, headaches, difficulty concentrating, irritability, high blood pressure, loud snoring at night, intermittent pauses in breathing while sleeping, sudden awakening and gasping for air, dry mouth or sore throat upon waking, and night sweats.

If you have been diagnosed with sleep apnea, please schedule a consultation with your Austin, TX, dentist, who may be able to treat your sleep disorder with a sleep apnea oral appliance.

To fix sleep apnea, you must first be diagnosed, and then we can help you find the best solution, such as an oral appliance that you can wear at night. This keeps the airway open and unobstructed.

The oral appliance is custom-made for your mouth and easy to use and clean. Unlike a CPAP machine, it’s comfortable, quiet, and won’t disrupt your sleep.

You may be wondering how it works – our custom-made appliance for sleep apnea supports the jaw in the necessary forward position to help keep the upper airway open. The result is a better night’s sleep without snoring.

A few other ways to fix sleep apnea include maintaining a healthy weight, changing one’s sleep position, and avoiding smoking and alcohol.

The 3 types of sleep apnea are obstructive, central, and mixed. Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common caused by a blocked airway, which happens during sleep when the rear soft tissue in the throat collapses and closes while sleeping.

Central sleep apnea is caused by a failure of the brain to signal one’s muscles to breathe. Mixed sleep apnea is a mix of obstructive and central. Each one interrupts a person’s quality of sleep and can be dangerous if left untreated.

When muscles relax, the airway narrows or closes during breathing, and a person can’t get enough air, in turn lowering the body’s oxygen level. When this happens during sleep, the brain alerts the body of its inability to breathe, and a person quickly wakes up to resume breathing.

People with obstructive sleep apnea might not even realize they wake up to resume breathing, but this can happen 5 – 30 times or more in an hour and prohibits a person from getting a good night’s sleep.

Some common causes of sleep apnea include excess weight, alcohol or sedative use, smoking, body anatomy (the way a person is constructed and shaped, including neck, jaw, tongue, tonsils, and tissue in the throat), nasal congestion, and hormone conditions.

The biggest signs of sleep apnea include loud snoring or sudden waking and gasping for air.

Sleep apnea symptoms may look different from person to person but include tiredness throughout the day and lack of concentration. Left untreated, sleep apnea can cause serious health issues.