Snoring & Sleep Apnoea

Obstructive sleep apnoea occurs when the soft walls of the throat come together and block off the airways while you sleep. This can lead to a person not breathing for a few seconds to a minute. As the brain recognises that you’re not breathing, a wake-up message is sent, giving the airway a chance to open, before sending you back to sleep immediately.

For people with more severe sleep apnoea, this process occurs constantly throughout the night. Because you’re constantly being woken up, sleep quality is poor, and over time this can lead to serious health problems.

Like sleep apnoea, snoring occurs when the soft tissue in your throat relaxes, causing your breathing passage to narrow. As you try to draw in air, the tissue starts to vibrate, causing the noise we know as snoring.

Not everyone who snores has sleep apnoea, but it is a key symptom. Unfortunately, there’s a misleading narrative around snoring that it’s a perfectly natural part of aging or gaining weight. However, if snoring is a common occurrence for you—no matter how severe—it’s very important that it’s dealt with by a professional.

If you’re experiencing any of the following symptoms, you may have sleep apnoea:

• Irritability
• Low or changing moods
• Daytime sleepiness
• Reduced concentration and productivity
• Frequent nighttime bathroom trips

Many people underestimate the dangers of sleep apnoea or chronic snoring. However, when left untreated, it can lead to many serious health complications, and carries a higher mortality rate than those who don’t have the condition.

Some health problems caused by sleep apnoea include:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Reduced productivity
• High blood pressure
• Heart diseas
• Stroke
• Weight gain
• Memory loss

In most cases, sleep apnoea and snoring are caused by obesity and aging but there are other contributing factors, including:

• Facial shape and the size of your muscles
• Nasal congestion
• Alcohol intake
• Certain thyroid problems
• Enlarged tonsils
• Certain sedative medications

Sleep apnoea and snoring can be treated in three key ways:

• Healthy lifestyle changes such as weight loss, smoking cessation, reduced alcohol intake, healthy diet and moderate exercise
• Treating underlying health problems
• A sleeping device to help aid breathing throughout the night

At Bond Street, we never settle for the quick-fix solution. As such, our dentists may discuss some of the lifestyle changes you can make to help ease your sleep apnoea or snoring, naturally.

In addition to these lifestyle changes, your dentist may offer you SomnoMed MAS™, the world’s leading appliance for sleep apnoea treatment. Similar to wearing a mouthguard, SomnoMed MAS helps keep the airways open throughout the night, so the wearer can enjoy an uninterrupted sleep. It also helps to protect the teeth against wear and tear caused by apnoea induced teeth grinding.

For many patients, wearing a SomnoMed MAS is an excellent alternative to a bulky and invasive CPAP machine. They’re easy to travel with and will cause minimal disturbance to you or a sleeping partner’s routine.

At Bond Street, our team of dentists, hygienists and specialists are all located under the one roof at our state-of-the-art South Yarra clinic. We always embrace a multifaceted approach to oral health, and build treatment plans that address the cause of an issue, rather than a quick-fix that may lead to further problems down the track.

We are highly experienced with patients who suffer from sleep apnoea and snoring problems, always offering the latest treatments and Oral Appliance Therapy.

There’s no need to live with the many complications that come with snoring and sleep apnoea. Start your journey towards a good night sleep and get in touch with our treatment coordinator today.