JANINE:  Dr.  Zeidler, today I think we need to talk about something that affects a lot of people.. Snoring,

And I know this is something Dentists can help treat.

DR:  Absolutely, there have been many advances in the treatment of snoring in the last few years.  Most people who snore don’t even know they are doing it until their spouse hits them over the head with a pillow in the middle of the night.   Snoring can be quite a serious problem it’s not just an annoyance.   Many people who snore also have something called sleep apnea.  It’s the process where you stop breathing in the middle of the night. As a result you don’t get restful sleep.

JANINE:  Now you mentioned sleep apnea that can be either a mild or serious problem.  What can you do whether it’s mild or serious?

DR:  Well, with sleep apnea is basically the stoppage of breathing in the middle of the night.  It can cause high blood pressure, sudden death, all the things we don’t want to think about.  The best thing to do is mention it to your doctor or dentist, and they’ll usually refer you to what they call a sleep study.  They send you to a facility where you sleep in a bed.  You spend the night, and they connect wires, to your body and monitor you throughout the night. They can keep track of how many times you stop breathing and for how long.

JANINE:  Now if you have moderate sleep apnea, what can be done for that?

DR:  You can return to the dentist office and we can create a nice little appliance almost like a retainer you can wear in your mouth, and what it does is it advances your lower arch, your lower mandible, it’s called your lower mandibular advancing device and when you sleep it doesn’t allow the tissues of the throat to collapse on to your airway while you sleep.

JANINE:  Now if you have severe sleep apnea, what can you do about that?

DR:   If you have severe sleep apnea we usually refer you to a pulmonary specialist who refers you to a company that will set you up with a breathing machine, a cpat machine.

JANINE:    I think you’re going to have a lot of women who enjoy this show!

DR:  A lot of husbands too!