Sleep Apnea Treatments in New York, NY

Sleep apnea is recognized as persistent pauses in breathing during sleep. This is the result of your muscles relaxing and gravity pulling your airway closed. The short-term suffocation that results produces excessive stress on the body, which can result in cardiovascular conditions such as memory loss, mood change, weight gain, fatigue, and hypertension. There are many snoring or sleep apnea alternatives used for treatment, ranging from airway surgeries like a tonsillectomy, adenoidectomy, or maxillofacial surgery to the use of a CPAP machine. Sometimes people are not happy with those solutions. In such instances, they might turn to dental choices to help solve the problem. At SmilesNY Cosmetic and Implant Dentistry in New York, NY, we focus on creating customized night guards to help our sleep apnea patients. Our dental care specialists are proud to provide this simple, comfortable, and reliable treatment option to help you achieve better health and wellness.

People who suffer from severe sleep apnea are not great candidates for a dental-based solution. In such cases, a Continuous Positive Air Pressure (CPAP) machine might be one of the best options. But if you have a mild to moderate snoring problem, a dental remedy may be just what you need. Sleep apnea may be dangerous since it keeps you from breathing normally hundreds of times every night when the tissues in your throat and soft palate collapse. When this happens, your airway is blocked, keeping oxygen from reaching your organs or brain. So needless to say, it is critical to get it properly diagnosed and treated with the best solutions.

Sleep apnea treatment at SmilesNY utilizes what is referred to as oral appliance therapy (OAT), which can be quite an effective therapy for sleep apnea. It is a custom-made device which fits in your mouth at night. It can be compared to a mouth guard for sports or a retainer. The main difference is that instead of guarding your teeth against harm, it gently pulls the jaw into a forward position to keep your airway open. There are more than a hundred models on the market, so your dentist will work with you to make sure you get the right one for you. This may be determined after an assessment of your jaw, tongue, airway, and teeth are conducted. You will also have digital x-rays taken so that we are able to make impressions of your teeth for your oral appliance.

Once your dental appliance has been created at a high-tech dental lab, you will return to our office for a fitting. SmilesNY will contact you to set up a follow-up appointment. Your appliance will be fitted and adjusted according to your requirements to get it as comfortable as possible. It will then be made sure that ample time is given to help you learn about your new snoring/sleep apnea device including how to clean, store, and maintain it. You will need to bring your mouthpiece to check-ups or come back every year to watch for wear and tear. Your quality of life should dramatically improve if you follow our instructions for your dental appliance properly.

Dental insurance policies for sleep apnea treatments can vary, so we will contact your dental insurance carrier to help us calculate any out-of-pocket costs. Whether you have dental insurance or not, we will provide you with cost estimates while talking about your treatment options. To make your dental treatments more affordable, SmilesNY accepts several payment methods and may be able to help you find low-interest medical financing.

If your breathing was interrupted hundreds of times every day from your airway being blocked, you would seek help right away. However, when the same thing happens in your sleep, it may be all too easy to put off as you won't remember it when you wake up. If you believe you may be suffering from sleep apnea, we invite you to schedule a consultation at SmilesNY at your earliest convenience.