SomnoMED, the Alternative Treatment for Obstructive Sleep Apnea!

If you have found the CPAP method uncomfortable, now you can wake up to a brilliant alternative

Sleep apnea is a debilitating disease and can sometimes be fatal. Sleep apnea is similar to snoring, but whereas snoring is only a partial closure of the back of your throat, sleep apnea is the complete closure of the back of your throat, causing a lack of oxygen that results in the brain kick-starting the breathing process. This often results in you constantly waking throughout the night. This kind of stop-start breathing can be detrimental to your health because with prolonged apnea (not breathing) the amount of oxygen in vital organs such as the brain, lungs and kidney can drop so low that cellular damage can occur. This is called hypoxia and can lead to:

• Stroke: 40-80% of stroke suffers also suffer from Sleep Apnea
• Heart attack or heart failure: having sleep apnea exposes you to four times the risk of a heart attack.
• Depression
• Diabetes
• Severe blood pressure elevation

On top of all this sleep apnea is being seen as a leading cause of motor vehicle accidents.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) suffers may experience hundreds of apnea episodes a night and, if they live alone or sleep alone are unlikely to remember the episodes. In fact, for those who sleep alone, they may not know they suffer from OSA even after many years.

At Michelle Enmark, DDS in Sacramento our specialist trained dentists are here to help you tackle your sleep apnea…

OSA is a serious medical condition that can severely impact your life. If you display symptoms of OSA it is imperative that you visit us at Michelle Enmark, DDS in Sacramento for a diagnosis. Some of these symptoms are:

• Loud snoring
• Excessive daytime sleepiness
• Depression
• Fatigue
• Reduced resistance to infection

SomnoMED vs. CPAP…

Usually, a patient with Sleep Apnea is often at first provided a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine as the first step in treatment. But there are a lot of patients who are unable to deal with the unpleasantness of wearing a CPAP mask all night. Among the reasons patients dislike the CPAP are:

• The mask intrudes on intimacy that occurs when wearing it to bed.
• Frequent awakenings from mask discomfort—nearly as many as the sleep apnea itself.
• Noise emitted by the machine.
• Dry mouth or nasal congestion.
• Feelings of claustrophobia.
• Accordingly, it’s no surprise that less than 30% of patients actually use CPAP as prescribed.
• The serious problems from Sleep Apnea quickly return.

How does this device work?

The SomnoDent® MAS is much more effective comfortable than existing MAS devices: for the treatment of Sleep Apnea the SomnoDent® MAS is worn throughout sleep to uphold the patency of the upper airway by increasing its dimensions and reducing collapsibility.

This device is custom-made oral device comprised of an upper and lower dental plates containing unique patented fin coupling component to keep-up mandible protrusion.
This mechanism is the key difference to other oral devices because it allows the patient to maintain regular mouth opening and closing while wearing the SomnoDent® MAS.

At Michelle Enmark, DDS in Sacramento we understand that each patient is an individual whose needs differ from the next person…

Therefor we offer a number of customizable additions to the SomnoDent® MAS. Such additions include:

• Elastic retention for mouth breathers
• an anterior ramp for bruxing

Worn in the mouth like any other orthodontic appliance during sleep, oral appliances prevent the soft tissue from collapsing and interrupting normal breathing patterns.

For more information on SomnoDent® MAS, or to book an appointment at our conveniently located dental practice in Sacramento, please do not hesitate to contact us.