Sleep Dentistry Sydney
Combat your snoring for a proper nights’ sleep with sleep dentistry Sydney.
- Sleep apnoea treatment
- OSA treatment
- Sleep apnoea appliance
With the correct diagnosis and sleep dentistry treatment support in Sydney, some sleep apnoea symptoms can resolve relatively quickly. As such, patients may also have a longer lifespan.
What causes snoring and sleep apnoea?
Snoring and sleep apnoea are very similar: they both occur when your jaw drops back causing your tongue and tissues at the back of the mouth to collapse into your throat. However, there is one big difference: snoring occurs when these tissues only partially block the airway whilst sleep apnoea occurs when your airway becomes completely blocked.
“Every patient comes in with the expectation that you’re going to fix the problem. However, you’re not going to fix it in isolation, you look at the whole picture”
Professor Jim Ironside
What is sleep apnoea?
Sleep apnoea is characterised by extended pauses in breathing while asleep. When our throats are blocked by relaxed tissues, our bodies struggle for air and cause our brain to wake us up to manually start the breathing process. This can happen hundreds of times a night for sleep apnoea sufferers, who rarely even remember these episodes!
Signs of sleep apnoea
If you suffer from one or more of the following symptoms, it is important you visit our Sydney sleep dentistry practice for an assessment to ensure you aren’t a silent sufferer of sleep apnoea:
- Lethargy
- Falling asleep at random times
- Reduced lung capacity
- Jaw clenching causing tension and pain in the face
- Irreversible wear to your teeth from grinding of teeth
These symptoms when experienced singularly may not seem like much, but when a combination of these symptoms is experienced, the result can be damaging and has been known to be deadly! Sleep apnoea is a serious condition that affects your night-time breathing and can also impacts your daily life too, causing sufferers to become so exhausted they cannot function properly throughout the day.
The side-effects of sleep apnoea
Studies suggest a staggering 80% of sleep apnoea patients in Australia remain undiagnosed.
Sleep apnoea can be detrimental towards your health.
These studies also indicated that sleep apnoea may be associated with many serious health risks. If left untreated, sleep apnoea can contribute to an increased risk of the following medical conditions:
- Stroke
- Heart attack
- High blood pressure
- Type II diabetes
- Work-related injury or fatalities
- Car accidents
Are you at risk?
Studies have revealed the severity of sleep apnoea increases in certain patient groups.
- 92% of obese males over 45 were diagnosed with sleep apnoea.
- 86% of all obese patients were diagnosed with sleep apnoea compared.
How to treat sleep apnoea?
Professor Ironside may be able to help alleviate your sleep apnoea.
Sleep apnoea test
Generally, we recommend those who may have sleep apnoea undergo a sleep study, wherein the patient is monitored overnight and any pauses in breathing are documented.
This helps determine whether the patient does have sleep apnoea and will allow us to use our advanced treatments to help alleviate both the snoring and sleep apnoea. We do this by using special appliances that are customised to you and are worn during sleep to actively keep the airway passage open.
Sleep apnoea treatment benefits
With the correct diagnosis and treatment support, some sleep apnoea symptoms resolve relatively quick. As such, patients may also have a longer lifespan.
Ask a question or
book your consultation
Please fill in the online enquiry form to ask a question or book your consultation. Professor Ironside looks forward to seeing you soon.
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Frequently asked questions about sleep dentistry
What is sleep dentistry?
Sleep dentistry is a form of dental care that focuses on alleviating snoring
Sleep Dentistry is the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of certain dental sleep disorders, and generally we can custom make an appliance that is designed to alleviate snoring and sleep apnoea. This can have a dramatically positive effect on your quality of life as you will be able to have a proper nights’ sleep!
What causes snoring?
Snoring is the result of your throat muscles relaxing and partially blocking your airway
Snoring occurs when your jaw drops back causing your tongue and tissues at the back of the mouth collapse into your throat. Your throat then vibrates as you try to draw breath causing patients to snore.
What dental condition causes sleep apnoea?
There are a number of medical causes for sleep apnoea however TMD (temporomandibular disorder) is the main dental cause for apnoea. TMD can present in a malocclusion where the teeth are visibly sleep misaligned because of a misalignment in the jaw.
This condition causes jaw and facial pain. This can then lead on to cause headaches and bruxism as well as obstructive sleep apnoea.
Mouth guard for sleep apnoea – What to expect?
Will I have to wear my mouth guard constantly for it to be effective?
Oral appliances that assist with obstruction of the throat during sleep are only necessary when sleeping. These appliances are designed to be comfortable enough for you to sleep peacefully and are not necessary during waking hours unless otherwise recommended.
How long will it take before the mouth guard is effective in the treatment of sleep apnoea?
An oral appliance treats sleep apnoea immediately. If the cause of your sleep apnoea is dental, then the manual correction of your dental misalignment will prevent sleep apnoea episodes while wearing the appliance.
How long will I have to wear a mouth guard for sleep apnoea?
Depending on the other symptoms of your TMD your dentists may recommend wearing an oral appliance correctively or as a permanent sleeping aid.
Can sleep dentistry treat sleep apnoea?
Yes, it definitely can. Sleep dentistry is a form of dental care which focuses on providing treatment to alleviate snoring and sleep apnoea. Our elite prosthodontist (sleep dentistry) in Sydney will create a custom-made appliance designed to relieve snoring and sleep apnoea. If you are showing symptoms like lethargy, falling asleep at random times, reduced lung capacity and jaw clenching pain or grinding, consider conducting undergoing a sleep test and referring to Professor Ironside for an advanced treatment to create a custom oral device for you.
How can I treat sleep apnoea?
There are various ways to treat or alleviate the symptoms of sleep apnoea. The most popular are using a CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machine every night while you sleep; or oral appliance therapy. Professor Ironside is one of Australia’s elite prosthodontists, specialising in custom-made appliances to alleviate snoring and sleep apnoea. This device repositions the jaw forward to open up the airway, and thus allows air to flow easily in and out of the mouth. These maxilla splints can be adjusted by the user to reduce the obstructive components of sleep apnoea.
How do I know if I suffer from sleep apnoea?
The most accurate method to use to confirm if you suffer from sleep apnoea, is to conduct a sleep study or test. These can be done in the comfort of your home or at a sleep clinic. Consider consulting a Sleep Specialist to determine which test will work for your budget and lifestyle. In both cases, you will use the machine at night, by placing the belt around your mid-section, affixing the clip to your index finger, placing the airflow sensor just under your nose, breathing normally. Based on the data and results of this test, the Sleep Specialist will be able to advise of your best course of treatment.