SleepMed Solutions Blog

If you wear an oral appliance every night to manage sleep apnea, keeping it clean should be part of your daily routine. After all, your appliance spends hours in your mouth, where saliva, bacteria, and plaque can accumulate. Without proper care, buildup can contribute to unpleasant odors, discoloration, and potential oral health concerns.

The good news? Cleaning your oral appliance doesn’t have to be complicated. A few simple habits can help keep it fresh, sanitary, and ready for another night of restful sleep.

Did you know that an estimated 30 million people in the United States have sleep apnea? This nighttime disorder occurs when your breathing repeatedly stops and restarts while you’re snoozing, which interrupts your body’s sleep cycles and prevents true rest and recovery.

Many sleep dentists offer options, like CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machines or oral appliances to correct your jaw’s alignment, to treat your condition and reduce associated symptoms. But before they can provide solutions, you must complete an official sleep test to diagnose the disorder. Continue reading to learn about 3 ways to prepare for this assessment!

Managing sleep apnea often means making a few strategic changes to your lifestyle. For example, while you may not realize it, your diet can often have an impact on the quality of your sleep. Certain foods could easily end up making your sleep-disordered breathing worse if you’re not careful. Below is a closer look at some of the foods that are bad for sleep apnea – as well as some alternatives that could potentially help you enjoy a better night’s rest.

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy is a safe, effective treatment for people who suffer from sleep apnea. It works by delivering a steady stream of forced air into the airway, propping it open so the user can breathe during rest. Unfortunately, however, if you don’t use your CPAP machine as directed, it can’t deliver the results it was designed to provide. Here’s a closer look at what is known as “CPAP compliance”, and why it’s so important to use your device as directed.

For athletes, pushing your body to the limits is, well, to use a sports metaphor, “par for the course”. After all, you can’t up your game if you aren’t trying to improve your skills. But what happens if you’re doing everything right and still not making any gains? If you’re an athlete who suffers from sleep apnea, this serious condition could be holding you back- and not just on the field. Here’s a closer look at the dangerous effects this disorder could have on your game and on your health in general!

CPAP therapy has long been considered the gold standard for treating obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), since it’s highly effective at keeping the airway open throughout the night. That said, many patients still run into issues when using their machines, ranging from discomfort to noise to consistently wearing it each night. For this group, combined sleep apnea treatment, which involves pairing CPAP with a custom oral appliance, is often a far more comfortable and effective path to better nightly sleep. Here’s what you need to know.

Do you sometimes wake up with a small puddle of saliva next to your face? Drooling is a common issue, and for many people, it is not a big deal. However, if it happens frequently, it might indicate a deeper — and much more serious problem. It could even point to the presence of obstructive sleep apnea! Just how are drooling and sleep apnea related? This blog post explains.

It’s no secret that sleep apnea can have a devastating impact on your health. When left untreated, it can put you at a higher risk for heart problems and other kinds of health issues. But did you know that it could also cause you to age faster than normal? Below is a closer look at the relationship between sleep apnea and aging, as well as what you can do to address the problem.

There’s more than one way to get sleep apnea under control. Some patients might benefit from wearing a customized oral appliance, while others may see more success with CPAP treatment. And in certain cases, the best option may be to combine these two approaches. This is known as combined sleep apnea treatment; below is a closer look at how it works and why it might be right for you.

Did you know sources estimate that approximately 30 million U.S. Americans suffer from obstructive sleep apnea, the most common type of this disorder? Blocked airways can interrupt your breathing at night, which in turn prevents your system from completing the circadian cycles necessary for true rest and rejuvenation.

Unfortunately, your ‘sleep debt, or lack of z’s, can add up over time and contribute to different health concerns, such as daytime exhaustion, mood swings, morning headaches, ‘brain fog’, and even increased risk of heart disease and stroke. Continue reading to learn more about why this happens and how to reduce symptoms!