Oral Appliances
Many people are unaware of their actions when in a deep sleep, but your dentist sees the signs. Grinding your teeth, locking your jaw, biting your tongue, even holding your breath and snoring can be halted with special appliances fitted by our dentists, to prevent sleep apnea, snoring grinding and other oral habits that affect your dental health.
Sleep Apnea Appliances
There are a number of FDA-approved sleep apnea oral appliances custom fitted by dentists to help patients sleep soundly and minimize snoring and sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is the result of the soft tissue in the back of the throat collapsing, obstructing the airway, and causing the patient to stop breathing until the body reacts to the lack of oxygen. The patient then jolts awake to take a quick breath.
Oral sleep apnea appliances keep the airway open and stabilize the tongue and jaw to stop the soft tissue collapsing. If you suffer from excessive snoring and the many symptoms related to snoring and sleep apnea like sore throat, insomnia, and breathing through your mouth and drooling, you may need to be fitted for a sleep apnea appliance.
Nightguards
Grinding and clenching your teeth during sleep can cause extensive wear to the biting surface of the teeth. Additionally, the habitual tensing of the jaw muscles while sleeping can cause sleepless nights and soreness in the temporomandibular joint during waking hours.
Drs. Davis and Reese take impressions of your teeth in order to custom fit a removable nightguard prosthesis that prevents you from grinding your teeth and clenching your jaw during sleep.