Snoring Causes

Although many people would not automatically associate sleep disruption or snoring to dentistry, there is a very strong connection. Dental techniques have been specifically used to treat cases of severe snoring and sleep apnea. In order to understand how this works, it is important to know what is happening in the mouth when snoring occurs.

Snoring can happen to almost anyone. Most people engage in light snoring while sleeping, but for some, snoring is a challenge that prevents spouses and other family members, or the snorers themselves, from getting restful sleep. Snoring happens when the upper airway containing soft-tissue structures collapses. Then the tongue pushes back against that tissue and air cannot move through the mouth and nose or into the lungs. What happens during the airway blockage creates a vibrating sound that everyone knows as snoring.

When the airway blockage is extreme, a person can stop breathing for 10 seconds or more. This creates a condition known as sleep apnea. Over time, sleep apnea lowers the blood-oxygen levels in the body and can damage organs. Typically, when someone has sleep apea, they emit a loud gasp before awakening. Untreated, sleep apnea can lead to congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, strokes, cardiac arrest, and brain damage.

Dentists can treat sleep apnea with oral appliance therapy. They fit the mouth with a device that looks like a retainer or the mouth guard football players wear to protect their teeth on the field. Oral appliances keep the upper airway unobstructed during sleep.

It may take a dentist several weeks to create a custom fitted oral appliance. They are usually makes of metal or an acrylic or resin surface. When you are not sleeping, the oral appliance should be stored in fresh, clean water. To clean them, you can use a soft head toothbrush and toothpaste and brush them. There are also several dental cleansing solutions sold over the counter in drug stores.

If the device ever begins to feel slick or slimy, it may have developed a yeast growth. This will cause a bad mouth odor and could possibly lead to infection. Oral appliance users should never try to solve this problem on their own. Consulting a dentist is the best way to solve the problem.

Almost 24 percent of women and 40 percent of men snore when they are sleeping. This is a a significant enough part of the population to consider with a widespread condition that many people have in common. Sleep apnea, however, is a more serious condition. You should always consult dental firms like Dentalways.com to help relieve obstructions before it leads to other irreversible health crises.

Disclaimer:  This is a sponsored post.

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