How Can an Orthodontist Treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea?

Obstructive sleep apnea is a serious, life threatening condition that plagues millions of Americans. Unfortunately, many people suffer from obstructive sleep apnea without ever realizing it. According to San Antonio orthodontist Dr. Carolyn Flanary of Your Ortho Team P.C., new technologies are making it easier than ever before to properly diagnose and treat this serious condition.

For people who have never heard of obstructive sleep apnea before, Dr. Flanary describes it as a condition in which a person who is sleeping on his or her back suddenly stops breathing. Although most people who have obstructive sleep apnea are snorers, the fact that a person snores does not necessarily mean that he or she suffers from this condition.

If a person who is sleeping has moments where he or she stops breathing for 10 seconds or longer, that is considered an apneic episode. When an apneic episode occurs, typically the sufferer will jolt or jerk suddenly in his or her sleep. This jolting occurs when the brain tells the body that it needs oxygen. When that happens, the person can actually go into a cardiac arrhythmia.

People who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea are six times more likely to die in their sleep of a heart attack than people who do not suffer from this condition. This is one of the reasons why Dr. Flanary believes so strongly that this condition needs to be properly diagnosed and treated.

At Dr. Flanary’s office in San Antonio, the orthodontist uses a 3D imaging scanner, known as a cone beam CT 3D scan, to diagnose obstructive sleep apnea in patients. Using this technology, Dr. Flanary can scan a patient’s head and assess the pharyngeal airway. Based on the size of the airway, the San Antonio orthodontist can determine whether a patient is at risk for having obstructive sleep apnea.

Although obstructive sleep apnea is more common in men (25% of adult males), it is something that 9% of adult females suffer from as well. To some degree, it is considered a silent killer.

One of the ways to treat obstructive sleep apnea is to increase the size of the pharyngeal airway. Very often, people are able to get an absolute correction by working with an orthodontist in San Antonio. Dr. Flanary says that the best way to treat obstructive sleep apnea is by having a surgical advancement of either one or both jaws. This causes the pharyngeal airway to triple in size and completely eliminates the problem from occurring.

For more information on obstructive sleep apnea, Dr. Carolyn Flanary recommends contacting her office and scheduling a consultation appointment.