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Why Sleep Apnea Treatment Is Critical for Your Mental Health

Jun 01, 2023

Everyone knows getting a good night’s rest is essential to wake up fully rested and refreshed. Unfortunately, many need to realize the importance of sleep quality to rejuvenate their minds and bodies to maximize performance throughout the day.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a familiar barrier to achieving deep slumber because it diminishes oxygen flow to interrupt REM sleep. When OSA interrupts the critical components of quality sleep, the condition reduces mental well-being and adversely impacts many aspects of everyday life.

Why Do You Need REM Sleep?

If you wake up feeling tired or depleted after a night of troubled sleep, you will realize why it is essential to get REM sleep sufficiently. REM (rapid eye movement) sleep is unique to recognizing or heightened brain activity experienced by dreamers. However, the health of REM sleep goes beyond what everyone feels or remembers.

When sleeping, a healthy brain goes through shallow and deep REM sleep cycles. During these cycles, the body works to repair neural connections and clear metabolic products in the body. The process is essential to prepare your mind for additional mental activity the next day and protect against long-term health complications.

Unfortunately, when many don’t receive sufficient REM sleep, it can impact their mental well-being. You experience low energy, irritability, and lack of focus because you struggle through a night of interrupted sleep, getting insufficient rest. The sleep apnea episodes, while not awakening, undoubtedly interrupt REM sleep or prevent your body from achieving deep REM sleep. Therefore, if you feel irritable after getting overnight rest and sleepy during the daytime, it helps if you seek obstructive sleep apnea treatment from a doctor or dentist to help manage your mental well-being.

The Link between Sleep Apnea and Bruxism

Do bruxism and apnea have a link between them besides being mouth-related problems occurring when sleeping? As you can’t perceive the symptoms when sleeping, you may not be aware of the association. Fortunately, if you seek sleep apnea treatment in Dorval, QC, they can treat both conditions by providing an appropriate oral appliance to deal with the situation.

Teeth grinding occurring when sleeping, known as bruxism, involves jaw muscle activity when sleeping, causing the teeth to clench and grind together. While you cannot realize the sounds of the clenching and grinding, your bed partner may awaken you when hearing the sounds when you sleep.

Bruxism results from misaligned bites, poor dental hygiene habits, and stress and sleep apnea is another risk factor contributing to the problem because pauses in breathing result in episodes of teeth grinding. Therefore 25 percent of patients with bruxism are also affected by sleep apnea. However, occasionally the relationship reverses itself because bruxism contributes to sleep apnea. This is because the muscles initiating teeth grinding also obstruct the airway. When left untreated, teeth grinding causes morning headaches, jaw pain, gum disease, chipped teeth, and challenges achieving sleep.

The Role of Dentistry in Diagnosing Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea and bruxism occur independently, but they are closely related. Therefore, it indicates if you seek a sleep apnea cure, you can improve the problem with bruxism.

Many people with severe obstructive sleep apnea are recommended a continuous positive airway pressure device to help them breathe when sleeping at night. However, the machine is cumbersome and uncomfortable for many making it essential to try alternative remedies from dentists providing an oral appliance pioneered by them working with sleep medicine specialists to help you overcome sleep apnea and bruxism simultaneously.

Before choosing an oral appliance to manage problems with sleep apnea, dentists suggest undergoing an examination by the sleep medicine specialist performing overnight tests to determine whether the problem affecting you is severe, mild, or moderate. While you can receive an oral appliance for mild or moderate sleep apnea, you will need a CPAP device if affected by the extreme version. Therefore, getting yourself assessed by a sleep medicine specialist is required before you receive an oral appliance to deal with sleep apnea and bruxism.

If you are diagnosed with mild or moderate sleep apnea and also affected by bruxism, dentist in dorval will fit you with a customized night guard aiming to treat sleep apnea and bruxism, depending on your unique needs. The night guard helps push your lower jaw forward, preventing your throat muscles from relaxing and blocking the airway. The oral appliance helps you gently and effectively restore your sleep and protect your health and mental well-being.

If you wake up in the morning after a night’s rest feeling exhausted, it helps if you seek treatment from Clinique Dentaire Dorval to assess whether the problem is associated with sleep apnea or bruxism. Regardless of the cause, the dental practice helps you overcome both conditions by providing an oral appliance to protect your teeth, overall health, and mental well-being.

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