The team of Sleep Professionals at Aesthetic Family Dentistry P.A., have a passion for providing oral appliance therapy to patients. They are highly skilled in oral appliance therapy that allows victims of Obstructive Sleep Apnea to live happier, healthier lives. Each day they see firsthand the benefits from correcting sleep disorders and the life changing results they produce.
They use a variety of oral appliances that are custom fitted to help each patient sleep soundly and minimize the effects of Obstructive Sleep Apnea such as chronic snoring. These FDA approved devices prevent airway obstruction and allow patients to breathe easily and continuously. Drs Steiner, Fine and Kwiatkowski also realize the importance of good relationships with patients’ physicians and other sleep professionals. They are proud of their network of referring health professionals and they work closely with them to insure the best patient care available. Contact us today to schedule your personalized sleep consultation.  Rejuvenate your life.  Rekindle your sprit.  Get the freedom to sleep better.

THE FACTS BEHIND SNORNING AND WHY IT SHOULDN’T BE IGNORED 

Snoring is more than just a loud and annoying noise, it can be an indicator of a Sleep Breathing Disorder (SBD) that can be very serious. Approximately 42 million Americans have a SBD1.

The most common form of a SBD is Obstructive Sleep Apnea, a medical condition where your tongue and soft tissues close off your airway and stop air from entering your lungs.

• Sleep Apnea can also cause memory problems, weight gain, impotence, and headaches if not treated.

• Untreated OSA can lead to a 30% or more reduced survivability rate over the course of 20 years11. • Drowsy driving is responsible for, at the very least, 100,000 car accidents, 40,000 injuries, and 1,550 deaths per year8.

• Approximately 38,000 deaths occur on an annual basis that relate to cardiovascular problems that in one way or another are connected to Sleep Apnea. These problems include high blood pressure.

Want to learn more about the very best treatment for Sleep Apnea?

Schedule a Consultation Call: 973 627 3617

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It can affect children as well as adults and is more common than we might think. As many of us snore anyway, it is somewhat difficult to identify. Once someone suspects sleep apnea may be a concern, the only way to correctly diagnose is with an overnight sleep study.

There are three main types of sleep apnea, obstructive sleep apnea that is the most common and is caused by soft tissue at the back of the throat blocking the airway. There is also central sleep apnea which is caused by the central nervous system and complex sleep apnea, which is a combination of both. Obstructive sleep apnea is by far the most common.

The signs of sleep apnea

Sleep apnea manifests primarily as heavy snoring. There may also be pauses in breathing which lowers the oxygen levels in the blood causing the brain to alert and awaken to force breathing once more. Pauses can be anything up to 20 seconds, causing the sufferer to gasp for oxygen once awake.

If you suffer from sleep apnea, you may never realize unless alerted by a partner or someone else in the house. While you are wakened by the condition, it is only enough to restart breathing before you go back to sleep.

Occasionally you may experience a sore throat when you wake, forgetfulness, irritability and sleepiness. In children, you may see them sleeping in odd positions, bed wetting, night sweats or night terrors.

Risk factors of sleep apnea

There are several risk factors associated with sleep apnea. They include obesity, sinusitis, large neck, high blood pressure, recent weight gain, the menopause, larger than usual tonsils or adenoids, Down syndrome, smoking, excessive drinking, genetics or a pronounced overbite. Men are more susceptible to sleep apnea, as are the over 50s but children can suffer from it too.

Treatments for sleep apnea

There are somethings sufferers can do to help themselves treat sleep apnea and some very effective medical interventions. Lifestyle changes such as losing weight, stopping smoking, lowering alcohol intake, regular exercise, lowering caffeine intake and defining a regular sleeping pattern can all help.

Medical interventions can include CPAP or an oral appliance. Surgery is also an option if these are not effective. The CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machine is a very effective device that forces air into the lungs to keep positive air pressure and prevent obstructive sleep apnea.

The oral appliance looks like a mouth guard or retainer that holds the tongue and jaw in place to help prevent soft tissue obstructions. It is a very effective treatment for those who don’t like CPAP.

Finally, there is a surgical treatment that involves reducing the soft tissue that causes the blockage. More involved procedures can also alter the jaw, nasal passages and face to alleviate the condition. These are only ever the procedure of last resort.

Sleep apnea is a serious condition but can be treated in a variety of ways. If you have been diagnosed with the condition, Aesthetic Family Dentistry are qualified to help. Contact us today 973-627-3617 for a consultation.

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Researchers took blood samples from 11 pairs of identical twins with different sleep patterns and discovered that the twin with shorter sleep duration had a depressed immune system, compared with his or her sibling.

The findings were published Jan. 25 in the journal Sleep.

“What we show is that the immune system functions best when it gets enough sleep. Seven or more hours of sleep is recommended for optimal health,” said lead author Dr. Nathaniel Watson, co-director of the UW Medicine Sleep Center at Harborview Medical Center.

A unique feature of this study was to employ identical twins in order to control for the large genetic determinant to humans’ sleep duration. Researchers say genetics account for 31 to 55 percent of sleep duration and behavior and environment account for the remainder.

Dr. Sina Gharib, director of UW Medicine’s Computational Medicine Core at the Center for Lung Biology, and the paper’s senior author, explained that a lot of existing data shows that curtailing sleep — for a limited time in the laboratory setting — can increase inflammatory markers and activate immune cells. Little is known, though, about the effects of longstanding short sleep duration under natural conditions. This study employed “real world” conditions, he said, and showed for the first time that chronic short sleep shuts down programs involved in immune response of circulating white blood cells.

“The results are consistent with studies that show when sleep deprived people are given a vaccine, there is a lower antibody response and if you expose sleep deprived people to a rhinovirus they are more likely to get the virus,” Watson said. “This study provides further evidence of sleep to overall health and well-being particularly to immune health.

The researchers, citing data from the Centers for Disease Control, said that over the past century people in the United States are sleeping an estimated 1.5 to two hours less, and about one-third of the working population sleeps less than six hours per night.

“Modern society, with its control of light, omnipresent technology and countless competing interests for time, along with the zeitgeist de-emphasizing sleep’s importance, has resulted in the widespread deprioritization of sleep,” they wrote.

If you have any questions about your own sleep patterns and lack of sleep, contact Aesthetic Family Dentistry today. We would be happy to see you!

Study one of first conducted outside of sleep lab
Source: University of Washington Health Sciences/UW Medicine
Materials provided by University of Washington Health Sciences/UW Medicine. Original written by Bobbi Nodell.

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How sleep apnea affects your wellbeing

There are three main types of sleep apnea. Central apnea, which is where the airways are open but the brain isn’t processing the oxygen. Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is where the soft palate within the mouth relaxes too much and blocks the airway. Finally, there is mixed apnea which is a combination of both.

Sleep apnea can cause snoring, which in turn can cause you to grind your teeth in order to open the airways. This grinding gradually wears down the teeth. We call it bruxism and it affects millions of people every day. Snoring can also strain the respiratory system as it starves the body of oxygen. This is not something we want to ignore!

Poor sleep can also affect our long term health. Without a solid period of rest, our brain and body cannot get the downtime it needs to clean, regenerate cells, relax and perform all its processes. Over time, this can have serious medical repercussions.

Why sleep is so important

We now know that sleep is the time when our brain does its “housekeeping.” It releases cerebrospinal fluid that removes dead cells and leftover toxins from the day before. This is an essential function which allows the brain to regenerate and to work at full capacity the next day.

Our entire body is still working hard even while we are at rest. Dead cells are replaced, blood is cleaned and regenerated, bones and muscles are repaired or regrown, any damage is repaired and a huge range of other processes are performed while we are deep asleep.

Sleep is also directly related to your heart health. During REM sleep, the period of deep sleep where your eyes are moving, your body is cleaning and repairing your heart and blood vessels ready for the next day. Poor sleep is known to cause heart problems and is something we all need to avoid.

We are still learning how important good sleep is to us, but every new thing we learn tells us how vital it is.

How Aesthetic Family Dentistry can help

There are dental appliances available that can help hold your jaw and tongue in place during sleep. They have been found to be very effective in preventing sleep apnea and for providing a good night’s sleep. These appliances should not be bought over the counter, but fitted by a qualified dentist. A dentist with experience in fitting appliances and with dealing with sleep apnea.

Aesthetic Family Dentistry are such dentists. If you think you’re suffering from sleep apnea, or you snore a lot, visit our office for a consultation. We can help!

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The majority of people who suffer from poor sleep have one of the three types of sleep apnea, which in turn can cause severe snoring. This not only poses a serious risk to your health, it can cause relationship problems too!

Some of the many signs of sleep apnea include:

• Loud snoring
• Intermittent pauses in breathing
• Waking more tired than you went to sleep
• Changes in cognitive function and loss of memory
• Morning headaches
• Tiredness during the day

Poor sleep is serious

We cannot overstate the importance of a good night’s sleep. It is literally essential for your body to repair itself, regenerate and prepare for the next day. It is not something you can regularly do without and is not something you can avoid for long without medical repercussions.

Sleep apnea compounds these issues by causing blockages in the airways that stops oxygen entering the bloodstream. This lack of oxygen can starve the brain, add pressure to the respiratory system and strain the heart. It is directly linked with a range of medical complications that we all want to avoid.

How Aesthetic Family Dentistry can help with poor sleep

If snoring is a factor in your life and affects the quality of your sleep, we can help. There are two main dental appliances we can use to keep your airways open. One is a mandibular repositioning device that realigns the jaw. It also has the added bonus of helping with teeth grinding and TMJ.

Appliances are simple, pain free and easy to use. However, need to be expertly made to your exact measurements to work properly. Having the correct fit is essential to be effective and to prevent any side effects.

Correct identification and diagnosis is essential in treating sleep apnea, so you need to use a dentist with that expertise. As holistic dentists, Aesthetic Family Dentistry are trained and experienced in dealing with a multitude of dental issues, including sleep apnea.

If you think you suffer from sleep apnea or are just getting poor sleep, come see us today. Contact Aesthetic Family Dentistry to schedule a consultation!

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