by Dr. Paul Rodeghero

Every night millions of Americans pull pillows over their heads so they don’t have to listen to their spouses snoring, choking, snorting or gasping in their sleep. All that pillow pummeling is an attempt to block out the noises of sleep apnea suffered by their bedmate.

While all that noise is definitely a sleep disturbing annoyance for anyone in earshot, in actual fact, sleep apnea is a dangerous and even deadly health problem. A person suffering from sleep apnea never gets a restful, healing night’s sleep. As a result, their body is stressed all night creating inflammation throughout. 

People suffering from sleep apnea deserve to finally get a good, refreshing night’s sleep and avoid the health problems that plague those with this disorder.

What exactly is sleep apnea? It’s when a person stops breathing repeatedly throughout the night. There are three types of sleep apnea, the most common of which is obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), the result of a narrowed or blocked airway. 

In some cases of OSA, the airway shrinks when the muscles in the back of the throat relax too much. In other cases, the airway is blocked when the tongue slips into the back of the mouth. In both situations, the person cannot draw a breath despite the desperate attempts to do so. The brain signals an emergency as oxygen levels of the blood drop. The person partially wakes up, gasps a few times and then lapses back into sleep.

Sleep apnea is associated with a long list of serious health problems, including:

Hypertension

Heart disease

Diabetes

Depression

Migraine headachesChronic fatigue

Dementia

Fibromyalgia

Anxiety

Digestive disorders

How is sleep apnea usually treated? Because of the seriousness of the effects of OSA, several treatments have been developed to help people cope with the problem. Some are prescribed a mouthpiece designed to move the lower jaw forward thereby keeping the tongue from blocking the airway. This is helpful but can lead to TMJ problems. 

Others have no choice but to wear a CPAP machine strapped to their face all night. CPAP stands for continuous positive airway pressure. It’s a type of pump that forces air into the airway to help keep it open. A person must wear a mask over their nose and sometimes both the nose and the mouth as they sleep.

The problem with CPAP is that many people cannot tolerate the machine attached to their face, the noise of the pump running all night or the pressure of the air entering their airway. They stop using the machine and are back where they started—struggling to breathe. Some people even go through surgery that cuts and moves their lower jaw into a more forward position, with all the pain and risk that surgery entails.

Better Solution Now Available

There is a noninvasive solution that gets down to the root of the problem and resolves it—a healthy path to better sleep and improved health. That path utilizes the Vivos oral appliance. 

This solution to healthful sleep evolved from extensive scientific research that discovered the actual reasons for OSA. Briefly, OSA is due to an underdevelopment or misalignment of the upper and/or lower jaws. When these bones are undersized or not aligned, the volume of the airway is restricted by the tongue which doesn’t have sufficient room and slides to the back of the oral cavity. 

The Vivos oral appliance is custom-designed for each patient and looks similar to an orthodontic retainer. Following the Vivos protocol, this device almost magically encourages actual bone growth even in adults. 

Finally, a solution to help a person breathe freely all night long, sleeping improves and the serious side effects can be virtually eliminated. For anyone suffering with choking, gasping and struggling to breathe caused by OSA, there is finally a real solution that handles the root cause.

Dr. Paul Rodeghero has been practicing dentistry in Clearwater for nine years. He is pleased to help his patients with the Vivos oral appliance. For more information or to attend an informative seminar on the Vivos solution, call Clearwater Family Dental at 727-442-3363. See ad page 23.