End Unpleasant Symptoms With Our Sleep Apnea Treatment

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most common type of this sleep disorder. It occurs when the tongue and other soft tissues in the back of your throat repeatedly block your airway while sleeping. When this happens, you’ll wake up briefly to take in more oxygen and then fall back to sleep again. This cycle can repeat itself hundreds of times a night in severe sleep apnea sufferers. This affects your sleep, your mood, and your overall health. It can even lead to issues with your TMJ! Your temporomandibular joint moves your lower jaw and works overtime to keep your airway open as you sleep. This strain can lead to pain and TMJ disorder.

The good news is, the Bridgetown Dental team offers real help for sleep apnea symptoms. We believe in a holistic approach to sleep apnea treatment, so we’ll do all we can to get you the proper diagnosis and remedy. We will:

  • Use a 3-D cone beam CT scanner to create images of your airways and identify any problems
  • Evaluate your posture and balance to see if you have any issues that may contribute to sleep apnea
  • Likely send you home with a sleep study test, the results of which will be interpreted by a sleep doctor

We Offer Treatment for Sleep Apnea that is Comfortable & Effective

In many cases, relief will come in the form of a custom sleep appliance worn while sleeping. It will gently move your lower jaw forward a bit to help keep your tongue and throat tissues from blocking your airway. If other therapies are needed, we’ll help you get set up with them as well. Our goal is for you to get a good night’s sleep every night! For example, our patients see success with MLS (multi-wave locked system) laser therapy. Patients love this treatment because it is painless and highly effective.

Unlike many practices, we can help both adults and children with sleep disorders. Your children can also experience interruptions in breathing while they sleep. If so, they may benefit from a custom dental appliance that gently positions their mouth and jaw to encourage nasal breathing. This is especially effective when combined with exercises for the muscles around their face, mouth, and tongue.

For our tiny patients, we also offer tongue-tie treatment. If they have extra skin between their tongue and floor of their mouth, we can gently remove it to help with nursing, learning to talk properly, and breathing. If your little one isn’t sleeping well, is breathing through their mouth, or is having behavioral issues, Dr. Kaady can evaluate them for sleep-disordered breathing.

To get relief from sleep apnea in Portland, call Bridgetown Dental today at 503-809-4742. You can also make an appointment online. Be sure to schedule your next dental cleaning and exam as well.