Snoring:

Snoring is the sound made when the tissues of the soft palate, tongue and throat partially block the airway and vibrate against the back of the throat during sleep. Snoring can lead to more serious health problems for you and your bedpartner. Before you seek treatment for snoring, it is very important that you have ruled out Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Otherwise, you could be overlooking a very serious condition that you have now turned into a "silent" condition, which could be deadly.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA):

OSA is a condition where the tissues of the throat and tongue completely block the airway causing brief periods of suffocation while you sleep. The blockage of the airway can dangerously reduce the body's oxygen levels. The brain alerts the muscles of the airway to open the blocked airway which disrupts the quality of our much needed sleep and you wake up tired and unrested. OSA is a serious condition that can lead to hypertension, heart attack, stroke, depression, muscle pain, excessive daytime sleepiness and other destructive problems. You may be in danger when operating a vehicle or other heavy equipment as OSA causes serious concentration problems that lead to "drowsy driving" and other dangerous situations.

The most common symptoms of obstructive sleep are:

• Loud Snoring
  
• Intermittent Breathing Stoppages During Sleep
  
• Excessive Daytime Sleepiness
  
• Restless sleep
  
• Difficulty Concentrating
  
• Poor Memory
  
• Irritability or Moodiness
• Impotence
  
  

Benign snoring is easily treated with an oral appliance without a physician's diagnosis. But, if you do have symptoms of sleep apnea, you will need to see a Board Certified Sleep Specialist (pulmonologist) for a diagnosis to determine the type of treatment and if an oral appliance is appropriate. If you already have been diagnosed with mild or moderate sleep apnea, your first line therapy, according to the top experts in the field of sleep medicine, is a dental sleep apnea appliance.