Are you suffering from sleep apnoea, snoring, or breathing difficulties? Is your child? If so, you’re not alone. Sleep apnoea is surprisingly common and is believed to affect about one in ten people in Australia. It’s thought many more people who suffer from the condition are undiagnosed.
Common signs of sleep apnoea include:
- Repeated obstruction of the airway while sleeping because the tongue and airway muscles have relaxed
- Snoring
- Waking in the morning feeling tired
- Waking at night and choking or gasping.
If you suspect you suffer from sleep apnoea, you should first consult a sleep physician or medical doctor with appropriate experience in the field.
Dr. Kamal Ahmed will then work with your doctor to get the best outcome by finding the right treatment for you. We have found that good teamwork between health professionals makes sure you get a great result. If that means an orthodontic appliance, great!
However, if our expert assessment shows orthodontics are unlikely to improve your condition, we will work with your doctor to find alternatives. Our priority is to find the correct treatment for YOUR needs rather than try to sell you an appliance that isn’t right for you.
Is your child tired, lethargic, and irritable? Is their performance in school, sport, or life generally being affected?
In some cases, this can be the result of sleep apnoea. While there are many causes of sleep apnoea in children, many are related to small or under-developed jawbone structures, leaving reduced room to breathe. Orthodontic treatment as part of a team approach to treatment can be as simple as using a jaw expander to open narrow and constricted airways in a growing child.
While adults are no longer growing, there are still a number of orthodontic sleep apnoea treatments available to improve symptoms in suitable patients.
For example, mandibular advancement splints (MAS) are plates designed to open the airway. They can be worn while sleeping, and often mean it’s no longer necessary to use a CPAP machine. In more severe cases, these splints can help the CPAP machine work more efficiently and comfortably. To find out more about the latest developments in sleep apnoea, book a time to discuss your situation and learn how we can help.
02 4243 6111