Millions of Americans suffer from the dangerous disruptive sleep disorder known as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), including some in the Mandeville area. Unfortunately, many people with OSA go undiagnosed, which places them unknowingly at risk for a heart attack or stroke. If you feel that you or your sleep partner have OSA, it’s wise to promptly get tested by a sleep specialist. You don’t have to search far as at Allure Dental, Dr. Daniela Eversgerd is highly trained in the use of various oral appliances to help OSA patients who are having trouble tolerating a CPAP machine.

OSA is typically diagnosed by a sleep physician specialist during a polysomnogram (PSG), or “sleep study”. During a sleep study, the doctor monitors brain and body sleep activity while the patient is asleep at a sleep lab clinic. Sometimes a patient will have their sleep study done at home. The sleep specialist then evaluates the collected PSG data to test for signs of any sleep disorders, including OSA, and then recommends safe treatment options once a diagnosis is made.

If OSA is the diagnosis, one of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine-approved primary therapies that the sleep doctor may recommend is an oral appliance under the direction of a trained sleep disorder dentist like Dr. Eversgerd at Allure Dental. Other treatments include sleep therapy.

Treatment options for the patient include surgery, CPAP or BiPAP machine use, or another form of oral appliance therapy. For mild-to-moderate OSA, an oral appliance offers the least invasive and cost-effective approach. In fact, a properly calibrated oral appliance can comfortably hold your jaw in its natural position throughout the night, which will allow critical oxygen to flow where it needs to be until you awake.

Any treatment decisions that an OSA patient makes need to be done while consulting with their sleep doctor and primary care physician. Once you’ve made the decision to use an oral appliance, Dr. Eversgerd can work with your primary care physician to ensure optimal treatment results. Whenever an oral appliance is used it’s very important that it’s positioned correctly so that it precisely maintains your airway and provides good oxygen flow.