Snoring

Custom Mouthguards for Snoring

Do you snore in your sleep? Even disturbing your housemate. The role of dentistry in sleep disorders is becoming more significant, especially in co?managing patients with simple snoring and mild to moderate obstructive Sleep apnoea. Most people who snore have this condition. They require custom mouthguards for snoring which we’ll explain further.

Sleep apnea is characterized by cessation of airflow through upper airway while diaphragm movement continues. It can be due to enlarged tonsils, enlarged soft palate, large tongue, and retrognathism. This can be taken care by fabrication of prosthetic mandibular advancement appliances like soft palate lifters, tongue retainers, mandibular repositioners, snore guards, etc., and surgery to remove portions of the soft palate and uvula.

Over the years, customised mouthguards are indicated to prevent the dental and dentofacial injuries in contact sports. The injuries such as tooth fractures, concussion, crown-root fractures, TMJ fractures, dentoalveolar fractures, soft tissue injuries can be prevented or minimized. Use of mouth guards reduced the risk of dental and maxillofacial trauma <7.5%. The mouth guards with moderate resiliency absorb the forces, protect the teeth, TMJ and prevent the contact of teeth and thus prevents ankylosis. Sleep apnea can be treated and cured with customised mouthguard. Most people don’t realise it, thinking that mouthguards are only for use in sports such as field hockey.

Perhaps one in every ten adults snores, and, for most, snoring has no serious medical consequences; however, for an estimated one in 100 persons, habitual snoring is the first indication of a potentially life-threatening. In this disorder, the muscles of the oropharynx, hypopharynx, and tongue relax and sag, obstructing the airway and making breathing labored and the collapse of the airway walls may block breathing entirely. When breathing stops, a listener hears the snoring broken by pauses. As pressure to breathe builds, muscles of the diaphragm and chest work harder, eventually uncorking the airway. The effort is akin to sipping a drink through a floppy straw. With each gasp, the sleeper awakens, but so briefly and incompletely that the patient usually does not remember doing so in the morning.