What is Snoring? Snoring is the sign of a serious breathing problem. It occurs when the jaw opens and the tongue falls into the back of the throat, causing the airway to narrow and forcing air through a smaller opening. This creates sound vibrations in the throat known as snoring. Snoring can seriously affect your quality of life. It can be embarrassing (as I well know), and cause problems in relationships via “second hand snoring.”
In the past, doctors referred to this as “simple snoring.” SNORING is in fact an extremely important symptom of a serious sleep disorder. Sleep apnea for example can be easily diagnosed hearing someone snore and stop breathing during sleep. The sudden stopping of breathing while snoring is a sign the airway is completely blocked. Many of those who have bed partners that snore know that these people snore less when they get them to move off their back. The good news is that snoring is one of the first symptoms to get better with my oral appliance therapy.
Anyone who snores at all is very close to complete closure of the airway, and any interruption of airflow causes a disruption of sleep which in turn results in a STRESS REACTION causing the body to release stress hormones. We ask all our patients to get a simple App called Sleep Talk Recorder (the correct app has a symbol of a red bed) and then record their sleeping sounds including restlessness.
During my 15 years of practice I am proud to say I have had many couples start sleeping together again after treatment. The TAP appliance which I have modified to make even more comfortable and effective has been rated to be the best oral appliance in decreasing sleep apnea (95% success rate). My TMJ Balanced TAP (which has an even higher success rate) has been very good in improving headaches and migraines which can also be symptoms of a sleep disorder. Another surprising fact is that many people especially women can have a serious sleep problem, and they do not snore. That is why patients in my practice are evaluated by many symptoms, Perkins Sleep Symptom Profile (PSSP), to discover this insidious disease which is missed by many other doctors and dentists.
The best treatment option is one that you will wear all night every night. The TMJ Balanced TAP is the most custom-made adjustable appliance and is fine tuned for effectiveness and comfort. The trays look like whitening trays, fit over the upper and lower teeth and hook together. The design is based on the same principle as cardiopulmonary resuscitation, CPR. The airway must be opened to allow air to pass through the throat. The TAP holds the jaw in a forward position so that is does not shift or fall open during the night. This prevents your airway from collapsing and you do not snore or stop breathing. Because the TMJ Balanced is so well adjusted to relax the muscles of the jaw many other symptoms such as bruxing, TMJ pain, headaches, and migraines, are drastically improved. This custom appliance relaxes jaw muscles, stops bruxing, and usually eliminates most TMJ pain, headaches and migraines.