Randwick
Snoring & Sleep Apnoea Solutions in Randwick
What is Sleep Apnoea?
Sleep apnoea, most commonly called Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA), is a type of sleep disorder when the walls of your throat come together during sleep. This causes abnormal pauses in breathing until the brain notices and sends you a wake-up call, in turn this opens the airway and the person goes back to sleep almost immediately, normally without a memory of the event. Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is the most common form of apnoea.
Symptoms of Sleep Apnoea
Sleep apnoea disrupts the sleep and people often experience symptoms including:
- Headaches
- Waking up tired instead of energetic
- Feeling tired throughout the day
- Acid reflux
- High blood pressure
- Snoring
- Heart palpitations
- Needing to use the bathroom frequently throughout the night
Not everyone who snores has apnoea, and not everyone grinds or clenches their teeth.
The difference is that when a person suffers from sleep apnoea, the snoring is accompanied by pauses where you literally stop breathing.
Sleep apnoea can happen in a person with or without the grinding of their teeth. This is important because the design will need to accommodate the additional biting forces.
Most of the time pain in the head and neck is due to bruxism (grinding) or clenching during sleep, which damages the jaw joint (temporo-mandilbular-joint or TMJ).
Grinding and clenching during sleep can be due to airway issues, so the resulting pain and sleep disturbance can be secondary to the airway problem. The damage to the jaw joint (TMJ) sends constant pain signals to the brain, and the jaw joint/sleep problem can potentially be a consequence of it.
Snoring is caused by vibrations in the airway when breathing. This can be due to blockages, a narrow airway or low muscle tone. It is more common in those which are overweight and affect more men than women.
If you are only concerned about snoring it is still best to have a sleep study to make sure that there is no apnoea. If the snoring stops and undiagnosed sleep apnoea continued, your general health is at risk. If you are assessed and there is no sleep apnoea, just snoring, then a mandibular advancement splint may help with snoring alone.
Oral Appliance
This appliance also known as a Mandibular Advancement Device splint (MADs) is one of the main forms of treatment for sleep apnoea which is comfortable and scientifically effective.
Here is an image of a MAD appliance called the Moses.
MADs are a suitable form of treatment for all patients with sleep apnoea except for the most severe cases. They are also recommended for patients who cannot tolerate CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machine therapy.
After the first consultation we will assess what the problem might be and schedule a sleep consultation with an ENT doctor to verify the severity of the sleep apnoea.
After if deemed an appropriate treatment for you, we will complete a 3D scan of your mouth and begin construction of your appliance.
Once the appliance is ready, usually within two weeks, you would return and the appliance fitting is checked.
For more detailed information on the symptoms and treatment of sleep apnoea, please visit: sleepwise.com.au.
The benefits of oral appliances in the treatment sleep apnoea lie in the portability of such devices. Oral snoring appliances provide patients with a high quality, more subtle approach to the treatment of sleep apnoea.
Price of Sleep Apnoea Appliance
The cost for an apnoea or a snoring appliance is $1,600.
We can let you know the exact rebate and any gap using your card at the clinic, or you can contact your Fund about the item 984.
We also offer discounts and flexible payment options such as direct health fund rebate using HICAPS, as well as financing through Denticare and Afterpay. This way you’ll know exactly what fees are involved before you agree to treatment.
Any invasive or surgical procedure may carry risks. Before moving forward, it is recommended that you seek a second opinion from an appropriately licensed medical professional.
