Before Appliance

Restriction of the airway causes Snoring. Closure causes Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA).

After Appliance

Oral appliances for snoring and Obstructive Sleep Apnea open the airway allowing air to freely flow.

An amazing 1/3 of the population, or about 80 million people, snore while they sleep, often repeatedly disturbing spouses and children. Watch this video to learn more.

Video Sleep Apnea and Snoring

Question. Did you know that snoring can lead to serious health problems?

Answer. As you snore, you are struggling to breath causing the blood pressure in your carotid arteries to soar. This pressure can lead to damage in the walls of the arteries, increasing your risk of stroke.

Question. What causes snoring?

Answer. As you sleep, the muscles and soft tissues relax and make the breathing airway smaller. A smaller airspace makes air travel faster, which causes the tissues to vibrate producing snoring.

We can help! If you have routine snoring without grinding or sleep apnea, then a "Silent Nite" appliance may be your solution.

"Silent Nite" Appliance

The "Silent Nite" device has been shown to work 70-100% of the time and it is comfortable to wear. So if you snore or someone you love snores, call us and let us see if we can give you the first of many "Silent Nights."

What if you have been diagnosed or feel you have sleep apnea?

After having a sleep study, which is directed through you physician, we can fabricate a custom appliance designed to treat Sleep Apnea. In our office we use the newest version of the TAP Appliance, the TAP 3.

Sleep Apnea- It's More Than Just Snoring

As many as ten percent of working-age men suffer from obstructive sleep apnea, a condition that causes them to repeatedly stop breathing for as long as ten seconds at a time, night after night. Anyone sleeping in the room with an individual who suffers from the condition may think it's just continuous, loud, irritating snoring. But obstructive sleep apnea is a health problem that can cause serious medical complications if not corrected.

The physiology behind the snore

Just about everyone has slept in the same room with someone who snores. What's going on behind all that middle-of-the-night racket?

As people fall asleep, muscles in the tongue and throat relax, and the tongue drops back into the airway, narrowing it. Air moving through that narrowed airway travels faster and causes the walls of the throat to vibrate, producing a rattling noise commonly known as snoring.

Don't ignore these symptoms

While snoring itself isn't a serious health problem, sleep apnea is. Sleep apnea is like snoring taken to the next level. It occurs when the airway is completely blocked by the soft tissues in the back of the throat. The American Dental Association likens the effect to what occurs when a thick milkshake is sucked through a narrow straw; eventually the straw collapses from the pressure.

When the airway is obstructed to such a degree, less oxygen reaches the blood and the brain. In response, the brain gives the red alert signal to the airway to unblock itself by tightening up. This causes the individual to gasp or snort abruptly, restoring breathing to normal.

With obstructive sleep apnea, this cycle repeats itself throughout the night, disrupting sleep and leaving the individual exhausted after a night of on-again, off-again sleep. The condition can also cause headaches, moodiness, daytime sleepiness and an inability to function properly.

The good news?

There is help available for obstructive sleep apnea. Working with your physician, we can create a custom-fitted, comfortable oral appliance that keeps the airway open during sleep so you can breath normally.

What can you do in addition to wearing an appliance?

You can also take steps to minimize your own snoring and incidences of apnea.

• Lose weight if you are overweight.
  
  
• Eliminate nasal congestion.
  
  
• Make sure your sleeping environment is quiet, dark, and maintains a steady, comfortable temperature.
  
  
• Avoid large meals right before bedtime.
  
  
• Avoid strenuous exercise within two to three hours of bedtime.
  
  
• Avoid alcohol or sleeping pills within four hours of bedtime.
  
  
• Avoid caffeine, nicotine or any other stimulants within four hours of bedtime.
  
  If you think you might have sleep apnea call us and together we will help you find a comfortable, effective solution.

Call our office at (972)278-9901 for more information.

Our address is:
Gregory Allen Kerbel, D.D.S.- Family and Cosmetic Dentistry
3260 Southern Drive, Suite A
Garland, Texas 75043

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