Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea affects 20 million Americans, including thousands in the San Francisco area, and 95% of them don’t even know it.

Sleep apnea occurs when your soft tissue collapses your airway while you sleep. As a result, you can’t breathe. Because your own body strangles you several times an hour, your heart races and you frantically gasp for air. Sometimes this apnea “choking” happens hundreds of times per night. This does two terrible things. First, apnea severely taxes your heart. Second, you never achieve restful sleep.

To begin with, your heart cannot accelerate from rest to panic several dozen or hundred times per night, every night, indefinitely. Over time, this can cause high blood pressure, arrhythmia, diabetes, obesity, heart attack and stroke. In addition, lack of deep sleep leads to quality-of-life disorders. These include fatigue, depression, irritability, sexual dysfunction, poor concentration, memory lapses, lowered immunity and increased sickness. Simply put, we need good sleep to survive and thrive.

First, if you gasp in your sleep or wake up breathing rapidly, you probably suffer from sleep apnea. In addition, chronic snoring usually indicates sleep apnea. Furthermore, morning headaches, jaw pain, and sore throat are associated with apnea. So is unexplained weight gain. Any sleep disorder or depression-related symptom might also be associated with sleep apnea, which is one reason apnea afflicts so many people but is rarely identified as the root cause of a health problem.

To begin with, we simply talk about your health and habits. What symptoms do you have? When do you try to sleep? Do you ever put down your phone? Our experienced dentists know that some sleep disorders are easily solved. Simply stop working 20-hour days and try to sleep!

If you exhibit warning signs, we order a home sleep test. While sleeping in your own bed, you wear this small device around your chest for one night. A simple button turns it on; it’s easy. If the home sleep test indicates apnea, our dentists then create a special oral appliance for you. Our appliance consists of two hard plastic trays that fit over your upper and lower teeth. When worn together, the oral appliance moves your jaw slightly forward. This effectively opens your airway and, in most cases, addresses your sleep apnea. More importantly, our oral appliances restores energy and happiness to your life.

That’s right. Most dental insurers refuse to cover sleep apnea. Whereas medical insurance often “covers” apnea, often you must first pay a deductible that exceeds the entire cost of treatment. It makes no sense! To make apnea treatment affordable and quality dentistry accessible, we offer Soothing Dental Membership Plans. Our plans have no deductible and no annual benefits cap. This means you can take care of your apnea and a dental crown or two, and throw in teeth whitening and new porcelain veneers. All in one year. Our plans cover it all!

If you even faintly suspect you have apnea, come in now for a consultation. Our experienced dentists can get you a comfortable home sleep test, so you’ll know for sure. And if you do in fact have sleep apnea, we can eliminate the health risk, end the horrible side effects, and get your life back. Again, the consultation and the knowledge is invaluable. We welcome same- or next-day appointments. Simply call or text 415-989-3953 or book an appointment online now.

Read More About Sleep Apnea:

• Sleep Apnea FAQ