Sleep apnea and poor oral health can go hand-in-hand. Although sleep apnea is a respiratory disorder, you can sometimes trace its cause back to bruxism — aka that irritating condition (usually brought on by stress) where you involuntarily grind or clench your teeth, especially during sleep. If you’ve caught yourself clenching your jaw a lot lately and you’ve been experiencing breathing difficulties, unrestful sleep, or snoring throughout the night, sleep apnea treatment may be just what the dentist ordered — and you can find it at Stanley St. Dental, located in Collingwood, Melbourne.
What Is Sleep Apnea?
Before we dive into Stanley St. Dental’s sleep solutions, which are helping Melbourne feel more rested, let’s return to basics: what is sleep apnea? Simply put, sleep apnea is a condition in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep. This can happen due to blocked airways — as is the case with obstructive sleep apnea — or because the brain fails to send the signals that control the breathing muscles during sleep (central sleep apnea). When both blocked airways and brain signal failure are in play, the condition is called mixed or complex sleep apnea.
Because central sleep apnea results from faulty brain activity, bruxism can only be linked to the obstructive variety — or the obstructive portion of mixed or complex sleep apnea. So, in the interests of keeping things relevant, we’re going to focus solely on obstructive sleep apnea and the relationship between blocked airways and bruxism.
What Are the Symptoms of Sleep Apnea?
Sleep apnea can manifest in various ways. Here are some common symptoms:
- Pauses in breathing throughout the night (you won’t be able to observe this, but a sleep partner might)
- Waking up repeatedly throughout the night (due to the brain’s survival reflex kicking in to ensure breathing resumes)
- Gasping for air during sleep
- Loud snoring
- Waking up feeling like you’re choking or short of breath
- Waking up with a dry mouth
- Waking up with a headache (or experiencing headaches throughout the day)
- Waking up feeling tired (or experiencing sleepiness or fatigue throughout the day)
While loud snoring can indicate sleep apnea, snoring is not a universal symptom across all sleep apnea cases. That said, if you are experiencing snoring, you should consider trying an anti-snoring device on for size — that’s our advice here at Stanley St. Dental, your local Collingwood dental clinic.
What Are the Risk Factors for Sleep Apnea?
Anyone can experience sleep apnea — children and adults alike — but some are more susceptible to the condition than others. Here are some factors that can make sleep apnea more likely:
- History of sleep apnea in the biological family
- Heart conditions, high blood pressure, or having experienced a stroke
- Oversized tonsils
- Obesity
- Bruxism
Sleep Apnea & Bruxism: How Are the Two Connected?
If you grind your teeth every night or throughout the day, it’s going to take a toll. Your teeth will become worn down and vulnerable to breakage or cavities. Over time, it can start a chain reaction, ultimately resulting in flaccid throat muscles, a smaller jawline, a larger tongue, and — before you know it — infrequent breaths, gasping, and heavy snoring: the hallmarks of sleep apnea. While bruxism is not always the origin story of obstructive sleep apnea, it never hurts to potentially rule it out. If you’re in Melbourne, schedule a sleep apnea dentist consultation with us to know for sure.
Untreated sleep apnea can have dangerous consequences, so it’s important not to sleep on sleep apnea treatment — book an appointment at Stanley St. Dental in Collingwood, Melbourne, today. We have the dental sleep solutions Melbourne needs to stop grinding, stop snoring, and — most importantly — keep breathing throughout the night.