Sleep Apnea Treatment in North Austin
Are you frequently accused of snoring too loudly? Do you find that you feel exhausted by the afternoon? Do you have difficulty focusing on tasks at work? Do you sometimes wake up with headaches?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, it might be more than a good night’s rest you are risking —it could be your long-term health and well being. Snoring loudly during the night is often a telltale sign of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) or other serious sleep disorders.
Studies have shown us that airway and breathing disorders can increase your risk for more severe chronic and systemic concerns such as:
- Carotid artery disease
- Stroke
- Diabetes
- Heart attack
- Fibromyalgia
- Acid reflux disease
- Hormone imbalance
- Memory loss
- High blood pressure
- Headaches
- Insomnia
- Heart failure
Sleep apnea can also significantly impact your daily life. For example, chronic fatigue may make it difficult for you to concentrate and complete tasks at work during the day, and it could even affect your ability to drive yourself home safely. Sleep apnea poses a risk to your overall health, relationships, and wellbeing.
What Is Sleep Apnea
The most common type of sleep apnea is OSA. It occurs when your airway becomes blocked by muscles and soft tissues in your throat that relax while you sleep. This causes your airway to become blocked, and the result is that your brain triggers you to wake due to lack of oxygen. These episodes can happen multiple times throughout the night. Even though you may not realize that you’re waking up, it takes a toll on your body because you’re not getting the restful, rejuvenating sleep that you need.
Advanced Care for Patients with Sleep Disorders
Through professional learning organizations and teaching relationships, Dr. Farahani became committed to the study of whole body wellness and the role oral health plays throughout the entire health continuum. She is very passionate about screening her patients for sleep apnea and TMD disorders and understands the oral-systemic whole body connection. This knowledge allows Dr. Farahani to offer effective treatment such as custom oral appliances to help patients comfortably and successfully manage their sleep disorder.
Oral appliance therapy can also be combined with continuous positive airway pressure therapy, or CPAP treatment, which is the standard of care for patients with severe sleep apnea. Dr. Farahani is happy to partner with your general physician to ensure that you are receiving treatment for sleep apnea that is most effective for your needs.
Because of extensive training in sleep and airway disorders, your Austin, TX dentist can help you attain restorative sleep and return to a good night’s rest.
Give Harmony Dental Wellness a call today to schedule a sleep disorder dentistry consultation and learn more about sleep apnea.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are you often accused of snoring loudly at night and keeping your partner awake? Do find it's difficult to focus on tasks due to chronic fatigue? Do you frequently feel exhausted even after a full night's sleep? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you might be suffering from sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea is a dangerous and potentially fatal sleep disorder that causes you to repeatedly stop breathing throughout the night. In fact, you may stop breathing hundreds of times during your sleep without even realizing it. This occurs most often because of a blocked or constricted airway, and the lack of oxygen causes your brain to wake you up.
Health Risks of Sleep Apnea
Even though you don't realize you're waking at night, your body does because it is not getting the rejuvenating sleep that it needs, which causes a whole host of issues. Sleep apnea can be debilitating for patients, and it can contribute to other health concerns such as:
- Stroke
- Diabetes
- Heart failure
- Hormone imbalance
- High blood pressure
- Memory loss
- Frequent headaches or migraines
Dr. Farahani has advanced training in working with patients suffering from sleep apnea, and she can create a customized oral appliance that often eliminates the problem by repositioning the jaw during sleep to open airways for unobstructed breathing.
If you think that you or a loved one is suffering from sleep apnea, please contact our dental office to learn more about how we can help.
Of course we do! Dr. Farahani uses virtual dental appointments to reduce the number of times patients need to come to the office. Using either photographs or video chats, Dr. Farahani is able to help answer questions or give guidance to patients. This is especially useful for patients going through Invisalign clear aligner therapy. Where as we usually see these patients every 6 weeks, we can reduce those visits to every 10 weeks or even longer between visits! Feel free to ask if Virtual Care is right for you.
Meet Our Doctor:
Sheila Farahani DDS, FAACA
Principal Dentist
If you are a new patient with us, let me welcome you and tell you a bit about me. My path to dentistry was winding, but each step along the path provided a foundation for the unique dental practice that we have created here in Austin.
I studied biochemistry as an undergraduate at the University of Washington and went on to post graduate study in coral reef biology before earning a Master's in Teaching degree. I taught high school chemistry and biology for a few years but was frustrated with the red tape ...