Snoring / Sleep Apnea
Obstructive Sleep Apnea
When you sleep with your mouth closed and breathe through your nose your tongue rests on the roof of your mouth away from your airway. But when your mouth opens and you start to mouth breathe, your tongue drops down into the back of your throat, restricting air flow and creating turbulence. This can obstruct your airway and cause you to gasp, snort, snore, have apneas (pauses in breathing), wake up with a dry mouth, dry throat, bad breath, stuffy nose and feel tired. This is the roots cause of snoring and increases the likelihood of sleep apnea. Establishing a lip seal at night helps you maintain healthy nasal breathing all night without snoring.
Diagnosing Sleep Apnea
The only practitioners who can diagnose sleep apnea are medical doctors. Even dentists who specialize in sleep dentistry are not able to diagnose obstructive sleep apnea. As an Orofacial Myologist, I am able to recognize the signs and symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea and provide recommendations for clients to visit their medical doctor to arrange for a sleep study if necessary. Knowing your diagnosis and sleep score(AHI) is helpful in determining your treatment plan.
Adults and Sleep Apnea
Snoring and mouth breathing at night can be an early warning sign of sleep disordered breathing. Myofunctional therapy may be an alternative treatment for sleep apnea by decreasing its severity and helping with CPAP compliance and sleep hygiene. Research has indicated a decrease in the apnea-hypopnea index AHI from 24 to 12.3, and dropping severity from a moderate to mild level 1. As a result you may be able to avoid the use of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAC) and decrease snoring and daytime sleepiness.
Warning signs of Obstructive Sleep Apnea:
Snoring
Hyperactivity
Teeth Grinding (Bruxism)
Chronic mouth breathing
Chronic daytime fatigue/brain fog
Anxiety/depression/mood changes
Forgetfulness/difficulty concentrating
Bedwetting or needing to use the bathroom at night
Choking, gasping and long pauses without breathing
Recognizing early warning signs of OSA are key to preventing symptoms and treating underlying causes.
What Causes Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Published Oct 27, 2016
Children and Sleep Apnea
Sleep specialists use myofunctional therapy to improve breathing problems during sleep, especially in children. Sleep apnea and other sleep disorders can have significant effects in children.
Potential signs may include:
Snoring
ADD/ADHD
Bed wetting
Sleep walking
Restless sleep
Slowed growth
Mouth breathing
Teeth grinding (Bruxism)
Children with confirmed sleep disorders quite often are associated with a clinical presentation of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A healthy sleep cycle can only be achieved through nasal breathing.
In 2015 a study was published in the International Journal of Pediatric Research titled Short Lingual Frenulum and Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Children looked at children aged 2-17 years of age. The study demonstrated that a short lingual frenum (tongue-tie) is a clear risk factor for the development of sleep disordered breathing, including sleep apnea.
The study recommended that parents and healthcare providers need to be aware that if children are tongue-tied, then they should be monitored while they sleep to make sure that their breathing is healthy.