About Sleep Apnea

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) occurs when your muscles relax during sleep, allowing soft tissue to collapse and block your airway. This can cause you to stop breathing for anywhere from a few seconds to almost a minute at a time. These breathing pauses are followed by brief awakenings that disturb your sleep – even if you don’t realize it!

  • Symptoms of OSA

    Symptoms of OSA include loud or frequent snoring or silent pauses in breathing and choking or gasping sounds. Other common symptoms include:

    • Waking in the morning feeling unrefreshed

    • Being tired during the day

    • Morning headaches

    • Waking up frequently at night to go to the bathroom

    • Difficulty concentrating or remembering things

  • OSA Diagnosis

    OSA must be diagnosed by a doctor, so you should ask your primary care doctor for a sleep evaluation. Your primary care doctor may provide a diagnosis or may refer you to a doctor who specializes in treating sleep problems.

    To find out if you have sleep apnea, your doctor or the sleep specialist will complete a sleep evaluation. This may involve either an overnight sleep test at a sleep center or a home sleep test (HST). A sleep specialist will interpret the data from your sleep test. The information from the evaluation and the sleep test results will be used to determine if you have sleep apnea.

  • Treatment Options

    If you are diagnosed with OSA, your doctor will discuss treatment options with you. Sleep Apnea treatments include continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy, oral appliance therapy (OAT), or surgery. CPAP therapy is a very common treatment for OSA, but OAT is also an effective treatment option.

    If you and your doctor decide that OAT is the best treatment option for you, your doctor will write you a prescription for a custom-made oral appliance.

Oral Appliance Therapy for Treating OSA

Oral appliance in container

Oral appliance therapy (OAT) is an effective, non-invasive, custom-fit treatment that fits easily into a patient’s lifestyle. Like an orthodontic retainer fits in your mouth while you sleep and supports your jaw in a forward position to open your airway. OAT is readily available as an alternative to CPAP because of its many benefits including:

  • No Masks

  • No Hoses

  • Discreet and quiet treatment

  • Easier to maintain and clean than CPAP

  • Does not require power or batteries

  • Travel friendly

How Oral Appliance Treatment (OAT) Works

If you already have a prescription for an Oral Appliance to treat OSA and are dentally fit, you can get an Oral Appliance in 3 simple steps.

1

Start with a consultation to see if you are a candidate for an Oral Appliance.

2

Candidate’s teeth are then scanned using a state-of-the-art oral scanner.

3

Man wearing oral appliance in bed

Your new Oral Appliance will be ready in a few weeks, when you’ll come back for a fitting. It’s that simple!

Baton Rouge Dental Sleep Medicine logo

Dr. Vance is trained to provide Oral Appliance Therapy and is dedicated to improving patient’s sleep. Patients enjoy OAT because it’s comfortable, easy to wear, quiet, convenient for travel and easy to clean.

Treating snoring or sleep apnea with OAT can help you feel like a new person. You will find that your symptoms and your quality of life can improve dramatically when you remain committed to your treatment and use it nightly. If you have concerns about snoring and sleep apnea, contact us today!

Our team at Baton Rouge Dental Sleep Medicine is ready to answer your questions about obstructive sleep apnea and oral appliance therapy.