How Your Dentist Can Help You Get a Better Night’s Sleep

Beautiful, healing sleep: there are few things that contribute more to our overall well-being, and few things that make life more miserable than the inability to get a good night’s sleep. You may not realize that your dentist can be a key player in your ability to sleep comfortably all night,but that’s the truth!

If you suffer from sleep apnea, you’re not sleeping deeply during those hours that your body should be doing the most healing and repairing. We’ll explain what sleep apnea is and how your dentist can help.

Types of Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which you suffer from abnormal breathing. If you snore loudly and feel tired after a full night’s rest, you may suffer from this condition.

There are a few different types of sleep apnea:

1. Obstructive sleep apnea is caused by the excessive relaxation of throat muscles, collapsing the airway.
2. Central sleep apnea occurs when your brain doesn’t send the right signals to your muscles to properly control your breathing.
3. A combination of both types of sleep apnea is referred to as complex sleep apnea syndrome.

When this problem has gotten serious, you may be snoring loudly, then stop breathing entirely. With a gasping or choking sound, you finally start getting some air in your lungs. This happens over and over for most of the night. During the day, you may be so tired that you fall asleep when you’re working, relaxing or even driving.

The odd thing is that unless someone sleeps next to you, you may not even know you’re struggling to breathe at night!

Complications of Sleep Apnea

The problems that can result from sleep apnea go far beyond not getting a good night’s sleep. Realize that your body is not getting the oxygen it needs every moment. This deprivation can reduce your blood oxygen levels, straining your entire cardiovascular system. Your risk of high blood pressure increases.

Type 2 diabetes is more common with people struggling with sleep apnea. This is also true of a related condition called metabolic syndrome—a group of symptoms including high blood sugar, abnormal cholesterol, increased waist measurement and high blood pressure. Tests show that sleep apnea is also hard on the liver—there are more signs of scarring and liver function tests are often abnormal.

How Can We Help?

We are trained and experienced in providing you with a snore guard or an oral appliance to prevent sleep apnea. These are devices custom fit to you that keep your mouth and jaw in the correct positions to maintain an open airway. For many people, this is all they need to start having a restful night’s sleep.

If you suffer from sleep apnea, don’t delay in calling StarBrite Dental, the office of Dr. Maryam Seifi, so we can help you transition to a new, restful sleep pattern. Face your day bright-eyed! Contact us at (301) 770-1070 to schedule your appointment for an exam and evaluation.

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Sources:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/sleep-apnea/basics/complications/con-20020286
http://www.entnet.org/content/snoring-and-sleep-apnea
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/2015/10/5-surprising-facts-about-sleep-apnea/

Article source here: How Your Dentist Can Help You Get a Better Night’s Sleep

What Patients at StarBrite Dental Are Saying

StarBrite Dental – The Office of Dr. Maryam Seifi – Family and Cosmetic Dentistry

At StarBrite Dental, The Office of Dr. Maryam Seifi, we very much value when our patients take the time to write about their personal experience in our Rockville dentist office.

Actual Patient Review

“When I came to StarBrite Dental I was in an emergency state with my dental care. It was a late appointment and to my surprise my tooth was able to be saved and that made me happy. I’ve always wanted the proper dental care and treatment for my teeth and it was just amazing that StarBrite did everything I needed to make me more happy with my teeth.

This is a wonderful team of professionals from the time you enter the door and greeted ’til the time you go back to your room. I’ve been educated on so much about my teeth and oral care and upkeep. All I can say is that I’m thoroughly happy with StarBrite and I can’t wait to show my smile when I have my Invisalign completed.” ~ A.S., Rockville, MD

If you are experiencing a dental emergency or simply need to schedule an appointment for a routine exam or cleaning, please give the office a call at (301) 770-1070 or fill out the form below.

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Bad Breath — Do You Have It and What Can You Do About It?

Have you ever smelled a baby’s milky breath? It’s sweet and fresh. Unfortunately for many of us, that’s not always the case with adults! We’ve all experienced someone else’s bad breath. Or maybe a trusted friend told us our own breath needed improvement. But there are those other times when we just weren’t sure. Our mouths felt sour but we couldn’t tell if we were in danger of offending our friends or co-workers. How can you tell if you have bad breath?

Bad Breath Self-Tests

If you’re not with someone you’re comfortable asking (and how many people would we be willing to ask to smell our breath?), try this test instead. Lick your wrist and let it dry for a moment. Then sniff your wrist. That will give you a chance to experience what other people experience.

If you’re at home, you can also run some floss between your back teeth and then smell the floss. Or, if you have a tongue scraper, run it across your tongue and smell any coating it collects. If you don’t have a tongue scraper, gently use a spoon to scrape the back of your tongue. Then smell any of the coating collected on the spoon.

Causes for Bad Breath

Bad breath can also occur after a spicy meal, foods with onion or garlic, or an alcoholic or sugary drink. These smells are usually just temporary and can often be eliminated by brushing your teeth or using mouthwash.

Longer-lasting bad breath is usually the result of an excessive amount of bacteria growing in your mouth. The mouth is a great place for bacteria to multiply. It’s warm and wet and there’s all kinds of nutrients. Bacteria thrive between the teeth, on the tongue and in the back of the throat.

If these bacteria are allowed to remain undisturbed, the smell factor increases. Keeping the bacteria count down involves regular brushing (at least twice daily), flossing thoroughly every day and regular visits to your dentist to keep your teeth and gums healthy.

Health Problems Can Also Cause Bad Breath

Any pockets of infection in your gums or teeth – even if they are painless – increase your chances of smelly breath. Of course, smoking or any use of tobacco not only tends to give you bad breath, it increases your risk of gum disease which then increases the likelihood of bad breath even more. Because smoking impairs a smoker’s ability to smell, he may have bad breath and not be aware of it.

Eliminating Sources of Bad Breath

Most of the reasons for bad breath are fairly easy to overcome. There are some chronic health conditions resulting in bad breath that take a little more work to resolve. Chronic sinusitis or bronchitis, diabetes, infection in the respiratory tract, gastrointestinal, liver or kidney problems can all contribute to sour breath. For these, you need to work with your doctor.

If you note that your breath is not ideal, the first place to start is your own schedule of dental care. Make sure you are following your dentist’s recommendations on oral health care. Then make an appointment with your dentist to rule out any infected pockets in your gums or any abscessed teeth.

Consider adding a tongue scraper to your oral care regimen. If you don’t have one, you can use your toothbrush to scrub away any coating. If you have any dentures, make sure you take them out at night and clean them thoroughly. Using a floss threader to clean under bridges will not only reduce your chance of bad breath, it will help your bridge last longer.

By now it should be obvious that you don’t have to resign yourself to bad breath! Take these actions instead and make sure you maintain the dental care schedule recommended by your dentist.

Please do not hesitate to ask questions or discuss your concerns during your next appointment at StarBrite Dental. Make an appointment by calling (301) 770-1070. Or you can fill out the form below.

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Article source here: Bad Breath — Do You Have It and What Can You Do About It?