Sleep Health from Healthy People

An overview of the importance of sleep to your health can be found here.

LANAP as descibed by Wikipedia

Lanap is a minimal invasive, effective, laser periodontal procedure for the treatment of gum disease.  Wikipedia provides an overview here.

Doctors combine CPAP treatment with oral appliance therapy

American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine

Thursday, October 06, 2011

Doctors recommend continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) as the gold standard of sleep apnea treatment. But 25 to 50 percent of patients do not use the treatment on a regular basis because they can’t tolerate the pressure produced by CPAP. To increase compliance and effectiveness of CPAP, some doctors are combining CPAP treatment with oral appliance therapy.

Research in the journal Sleep and Breathing shows that combination therapy normalized breathing disturbances in sleep apnea patients who were otherwise intolerant to CPAP. When CPAP was used with an oral appliance, patients were able to tolerate their treatment better than CPAP by itself.

Typically, the two treatments are given separately. Oral appliances are fitted by dentists trained in dental sleep medicine. These devices fit like sports mouth guards and move the jaw and tongue forward to open the airway. Oral appliances are most effective with mild to moderate sleep apnea patients.

This study included 10 OSA patients who didn’t tolerate CPAP. They were using oral appliance therapy but still experiencing pauses in breath during sleep. The patients were taken off oral appliance therapy for one week. They then wore CPAP and an oral appliance together for three nights. Oxygen levels were recorded during a sleep study and patients took the Epworth Sleepiness Scale.

Results show that the oral appliance/CPAP combination was well tolerated by all participants. The number of times patients stopped breathing per hour of sleep was reduced from 11 times per hour to three times per hour after combination therapy.

Before treatment, the average sleepiness score was 12. After oral appliance therapy, their average score was reduced to 9. After combination treatment, the score was further reduced to 7. This decrease shows that they had more energy during the day due to combination therapy.

Snoring...A Minor Annoyance or Something Serious?

Are you prevented from getting a good night’s sleep due to snoring (be it your snoring or your spouse’s snoring)?

• If you snore, do you wake up from a seemingly sound sleep gasping for air?
• Do you wake up at night because you need to use the bathroom?
• Do you wake up in the morning feeling tired?
• Do you feel sleepy in the afternoon and wish you could just sneak in a short nap to re-energize yourself at work?

If any of the above conditions sound familiar to you, please think seriously about getting tested for Sleep Apnea, a dangerous, potentially life-threatening condition.

Sleep apnea is defined as interruptions of breathing during sleep...imagine someone who is sleeping and does not take a breath for more than 10 seconds....then doing this a minimum of five times each hour during their sleep.

Since oxygen enters our bodies through our breath, and our organs (such as our heart, liver, kidneys, etc.) need oxygen to function properly, we are starving our bodies of oxygen with each 10-second non-breathing interval.

If left untreated, sleep apnea can lead to other serious medical conditions such as: depression, high blood pressure, heart attack, or stroke.

A more frightening fact is this: as many as 90% of all sleep apnea cases remain undiagnosed, largely due to the fact that sufferers are unaware that their symptoms are a sign of a serious breathing disorder.

Talk to a medical doctor or a dentist (but, make sure they are specially trained in sleep medicine and dental sleep medicine) about getting tested for sleep apnea...secure your future by improving your quality of life and getting a more restful sleep each night!

Teeth Straightening for Kids: Purely Cosmetic or A Real Necessity?

By Guest Blogger: ThanksDrMom.com, Marie Johnson

As kids reach elementary and middle school, the topic of braces (orthodontics) comes up more frequently. Should parents spend the money to straighten their kids’ teeth? Is it for purely a cosmetic reason? You may be surprised to know there are significant health reasons to seriously consider providing orthodontic treatment for your child.

Aside from the obvious esthetic reasons for orthodontics, a healthy mouth and straight teeth in kids are very important concerns because:

1) Straight teeth are easier to keep clean - healthy teeth and gums are extremely important to our overall health, adults and kids alike! Did you know that gum disease is closely linked to heart disease, stroke, and diabetes?

2) A poor bite can lead to muscle problems and headaches.

3) Crooked teeth will wear unevenly, which may lead to future dental problems and the need for future dental restorations such as crowns.

4) It is best to straighten teeth earlier when a child’s mouth and palate are still growing to avoid extracting teeth...and treatment may take less time as a child rather than adult orthodontics.

5) If crowding of the teeth is present, orthodontically creating space and growth in the mouth can help prevent future dental problems and possibly obstructive sleep apnea (a serious condition in which a person stops breathing during sleep).

If you are faced with the question of whether or not to straighten you kids’ teeth, remember that cosmetic reasons are not the only factors involved. Serious health issues may need to be considered. Talk to your family dentist. Find out ALL the details of your child’s diagnosis. Then, decide what is best for your child and your family.

“Every tooth in a man’s head is more valuable than a diamond.” -Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote, 1605

And if insurance coverage is a deciding factor for you, follow Robert Brault’s advise (www.robertbrault.com), “My health plan doesn’t cover dental, so I enrolled my teeth as 32 dependents, each needing a complete physical once a year.”

A Tragic Pregnancy

Please watch this news report regarding a tragic pregnancy; the first case proving the connection between the health of your gums and the health of a developing fetus. The LANAP protocol for treating gum disease is a patient-friendly, minimal invasive procedure that is very effective in treating gum disease. Watch it here: http://tinyurl.com/5wjlabu

Successful Periodontal Therapy May Reduce the Risk of Pre-Term Birth

According to a study at the University of Pennsylvania, successful treatment for gum disease may reduce the risk for pre-term birth. Read more here. http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/news/successful-periodontal-therapy-may-reduce-risk-preterm-birth-according-penn-dental-study

Of course LANAP (Laser Assisted New Attachment Procedure) could be considered as part of successful periodontal therapy.