Australia’s Leading Sleep
Apnea Dentists
The dentists listed in this directory are Australia’s Neuromuscular practitioners being some of the most highly educated, knowledgeable and experienced dentists in the world.
Each dentist has undertaken comprehensive advanced education and intensive hands on clinical training in Dentistry and Neuromuscular dentistry at the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies, America’s leading dental training institute.
Sleep Apnea.
Sleep apnea is characterised by pauses in breathing during sleep.
These often last long enough to where one or more breaths are missed repeatedly throughout sleep.
Oral appliance therapy (OAT).
The oral appliance is a custom-made mouthpiece that shifts the lower jaw forward, which opens up the airway.
OAT is usually successful in patients with mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea.
This is arguably the most consistently effective treatment for sleep apnea - the use of a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device, which 'splints' the patient's airway open during sleep by means of a flow of pressurized air into the throat.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most common category of sleep-disordered breathing. The muscle tone of the body ordinarily relaxes during sleep. And since, at the level of the throat, the human airway is composed of walls of soft tissue which can collapse. It is easy to understand why breathing can become obstructed during sleep. Mild, occasional sleep apnea, such as many people experience during an upper respiratory infection, may not be important. However, chronic, severe obstructive sleep apnea requires treatment to prevent sleep deprivation and other complications. The most serious complication is a severe form of congestive heart failure called cor pulmonale.
Snoring is the vibration of respiratory structures and the resulting sound, due to obstructed air movement during breathing while sleeping. In some cases, the sound may be soft, in others loud and unpleasant. The structures are usually the uvula and soft palate. The irregular airflow is caused by a blockage and usually due to one of the following:
- Throat weakness, causing the throat to close during sleep
- Mis-positioned jaw, often caused by tension in the muscles
- Fat gathering in and around the throat (often associated with overweight or obesity)
- Obstruction in the nasal passageway
Statistics on snoring are often contradictory. However, at least 30% of adults, and perhaps as many as 50% of people in some demographics do snore.
Specially made dental appliances called mandibular advancement splints, are a common mode of treatment for snoring. They advance the lower jaw slightly, and thereby pull the tongue forward. Such appliances have been proven to be effective in reducing snoring and sleep apnea in cases where the apnea is mild to moderate.
Cosmetic Dentistry
Neuromuscular Dentistry
Migraine Headaches
