Is It Just Snoring? The Hidden Dangers of Sleep Apnea You Shouldn't Ignore

You’ve reached the end of a long day, and you can’t wait to relax and get some much-needed sleep. Lately, you’ve been waking up tired and groggy, and everyone else has too, because of your snoring. 

If this scenario sounds all too familiar, you’re not the only one. In the United States alone, about 57% of men, 40% of women, and 27% of children snore. It’s definitely annoying and gets in the way of enjoying a good night’s sleep, but is it really a big deal?  

If your snoring is connected to a chronic disorder called sleep apnea, it can be, says Ginger Rome, DDS, Maurina Brooks, DDS, and the team at The Dentists at North Cypress in Houston, Texas. In this blog, we discuss snoring, sleep apnea, and the role restorative sleep plays in your overall health.

Restorative sleep and your health

We all go through cycles when getting our fair share of restful sleep seems nearly impossible. Perhaps work stress and looming deadlines keep you up at night, or maybe you’re dealing with a colicky baby or a sick loved one. It happens from time to time. But if this happens most nights, it can take a toll on your body.

Key functions happen in the brain while sleeping. Essentially, your brain stores and resets. During sleep, your brain stores memories and processes what you learned during the day while clearing out waste and toxins that can harm your cells. 

If lack of sleep interrupts this waste elimination process, the inability to concentrate and focus the next day is just the tip of the iceberg of health implications. Your body resets and restores while you’re asleep. Specifically, it heals, repairs, recovers from the day, and releases key growth hormones.

Sleep apnea and snoring

But that’s not all. If you suffer from snoring, you may have a sleep disorder called sleep apnea. In fact, a majority of snorers — up to 70% have been diagnosed with sleep apnea.

Apnea comes from the Greek word for "breathless," which describes the condition that causes brief breathing interruptions. While there are three types of sleep apnea, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most common type. Partial or complete upper airway blockages can create OSA.

Breathing interruptions and your health

If you snore and have periods of gasping, snorting, or body jerks at night when the brain kicks in and breathing resumes, you know how disruptive that is when you are trying to sleep. But that’s only the beginning.

With sleep apnea, when you stop breathing, your blood oxygen levels drop suddenly. Then, your chest muscles need to work harder to open the airway. When combined, these reactions create a perfect storm for impacting your cardiovascular system, putting you at a higher risk of developing high blood pressure or having a stroke or heart attack.  

Your blood glucose metabolism also suffers when you stop breathing. While blood oxygen levels drop, carbon dioxide levels increase in your bloodstream. This scenario can trigger insulin resistance, which can put you at a higher risk for developing diabetes, or if you already have it, sleep apnea can make it more difficult to manage. 

Custom-made oral appliances can help

At The Dentists at North Cypress, our team helps patients with OSA by creating oral appliances. The device gently shifts your jaw forward to open your airways and prevent obstructions.

The dental device fits each patient’s specifications, offering greater comfort than a standard continuous positive airway pressure device, a CPAP. If you’ve tried a CPAP and found it uncomfortable to wear or difficult to clean, an oral appliance may be the solution you’ve been searching for.

Your dental provider assesses you to determine if you’re a good candidate for an oral appliance. If everything checks out, your provider makes an impression of your teeth and uses an in-office tool called a pharyngometer or rhinometer to measure size and flexibility. She then sends this information to a dental laboratory, which makes your dental device.

When the device returns from the lab, you return to the office for a final fitting and treatment plan. If you’re tired of being tired and want to learn more about sleep apnea, contact The Dentists at North Cypress. Call us or schedule an appointment online today.