What Causes Sleep Apnea?

What Causes Sleep Apnea?

  

In our last post, we talked about some of the signs and symptoms of a common sleep disorder known as sleep apnea. In this post, we’ll talk more about what sleep apnea is and what causes it.

For patients with sleep apnea, getting the kind of restful night of sleep necessary for a healthy lifestyle is difficult. That’s because patients with sleep apnea experience interrupted sleep—that is, they actually stop breathing throughout the night. As a result, they are continually waking up so that they can breathe.

Why do sleep apnea patients stop breathing?

The most common reason is that their airways have become blocked by their tongue or their lower jaw. That’s why another name for sleep apnea is obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, or OSAS.

But the good news is that patients with sleep apnea don’t have to just live with their problem. With treatment, it’s possible to enjoy the kind of deep, peaceful sleep you’ve been missing.

How is sleep apnea treated?

By supplying your lungs with the air they desperately need. And that can happen in a couple of ways.

In our posts for next month, we’ll discuss those methods in greater detail. For now, if you suspect that you might suffer from sleep apnea, give Dr. Wade a call at Stonebriar Smile Design. Together her with smart, talented team, she can answer all your questions about sleep apnea, in addition to providing you with a treatment solution.

Call us today if you live in Frisco, Plano, McKinney, Allen, Dallas, The Colony, or a surround area. We look forward to helping you!

Symptoms and Side Effects of Sleep Apnea

Symptoms and Side Effects of Sleep Apnea

A quality night of sleep is important to a healthy lifestyle. But a common sleep disorder known as sleep apnea can prevent you from getting the restful sleep you need and deserve.

Side effects of sleep apnea include:

·          

•      Daytime drowsiness
•          Stress
•          Fatigue
•          Moodiness
•          Difficulty concentrating
•         Memory loss, and more…

Other more serious side effects of sleep apnea include accidents at work or while driving, high blood pressure, heart problems, and risk of premature. What’s more, untreated sleep apnea doesn’t just endanger your health. It can also endanger your partner’s health. Since one of the most common signs of sleep apnea is snoring, you could be preventing your partner from getting the kind of sleep they need, resulting in similar side effects for them. All of which means that if you regularly experience any of these symptoms, it’s time to find out if you have sleep apnea.

The reason that patients with sleep apnea experience all these symptoms is that they actually stop breathing while they sleep. This prompts the brain to send out a signal waking the patient up so they can breathe. Sometimes that just means moving from a deep stage of sleep to a lighter stage of sleep, but in other cases you may wake up completely. But even if you don’t, you still aren’t getting the kind of sleep you need to feel rested during the day.

So, what causes sleep apnea? We’ll talk more about that in our next post. For now, if any of these symptoms look familiar, give Dr. Wade’s Frisco office a call to schedule a consultation appointment. Dr. Wade and her team at Stonebriar Smile Design serve patients from Frisco, Plano, McKinney, Allen, Dallas, The Colony, and surrounding areas.

How Do Your Hormones Affect Your Smile?

How Do Your Hormones Affect Your Smile?

In our last post we talked about the surprising link between stress and your oral health. Today, we’ll look at another smile-body connection you may have never considered—the connection between your hormones and your oral health.

One primary example of this is pregnancy. During pregnancy, higher progesterone levels in the body make the soft tissues of the gums more prone to irritation from plaque, which can in turn lead to problems with gum disease. All of which means that regular brushing and flossing, plus regular dental visits, are vital if you’re currently pregnant or about to become pregnant.

But pregnancy isn’t the only time when a hormone imbalance can affect your oral health. During puberty, a similar surge of hormones can increase gum sensitivity. Teaching your teen to develop a strong oral health routine is one of the best ways to combat periodontal issues during this important time, in addition to keeping up with regular cleanings at Stonebriar Smile Design.

What do both of these examples prove, and our last post, prove?  It proves that while we tend to think of our smile as something separate from the rest of our body, the human body actually functions as a whole, with every aspect potentially having an impact on the other.

If you have questions about how a hormone imbalance can affect your smile, give Stonebriar Smile Design a call today. Our team would be happy to answer your questions, in addition to setting up your next appointment with Dr. Wade. Our office happily serves patients from Frisco, Plano, McKinney, Allen, Dallas, and The Colony and beyond.

Stress and Your Smile

How Does Stress Affect Your Smile and Your Overall Well-being?

If you’ve ever come through a stressful time at work or in your everyday life, you may already know how stress can affect the body. Emotional and physical exhaustion, weight gain, premature aging, and moodiness are all examples of how stress can change you. But did you know there’s also an oral health component to stress?

You may have never guessed it, but if you experience frequent headaches or have chronic pain in your jaw, shoulders, neck, and face, you could be reacting to the stress in your life by clenching your jaw or grinding your teeth.Both are a natural reaction to stress. In fact, clenching actually contributes to the release of stress hormones. But just because these may be natural reactions, that doesn’t mean they’re good for you. Consistent grinding and clenching can eventually lead to TMJ dysfunction and can do serious damage to your teeth and jaw.

At Stonebriar Smile Design, Dr. Jill Wade can help you relieve your painful and exhausting symptoms with a full arch occlusal guard or an NTI-tss device. With each of these custom-made oral devices, Dr. Wade can put a stop to the clenching and grinding that’s destroying your smile.

Have you been experiencing painful symptoms as a result of stress? Call Stonebriar Smile Design today to schedule an appointment with Dr. Wade. Our office is conveniently located in Frisco and serves patients from Plano, McKinney, Allen, Dallas, and The Colony.

Getting the Jump on Oral Cancer with VELscope

Oral Cancer Awareness Month, Part Two: Getting the Jump on Oral Cancer with VELscope

In our last post, we talked about how Dr. Jill Wade is using OralDNA to asses a patient’s risk for HPV-related oral cancer. In this post, we’ll take about a look at another great tool we’re using at Stonebriar Smile Design in Frisco. It’s called VELscope.

With VELscope, it’s possible for Dr. Wade to identify potentially cancerous tissue when it can be hard to make a diagnosis with the naked eye.

How Does An Oral Cancer Screening With VELscope Work?

VELscope is a fluorescence-based system that is painless and takes just minutes to complete. During your screening, Dr. Wade will simply shine the VELscope light in your mouth as she completes a thorough oral exam.  Under this light, healthy tissue glows green while tissue that may require a second look looks dark. That’s all there is to it. When combined with OralDNA, X-rays, and a traditional oral exam, VELscope can be one of the most effective tools used in the fight against oral cancer.

Do you want to learn more about oral cancer and how Dr. Wade can screen patients? Call our Frisco dental office today with your questions, or to schedule your next visit. We serve patients from Plano, McKinney, Allen, Dallas, and The Colony.

Oral Cancer Awareness Month

You might already know that April is Oral Cancer Awareness Month, but do you know why spreading awareness is so important? It’s because oral cancer currently claims the life of one American every hour, taking more lives annually than cervical or skin cancer, among other urgent health conditions.

Part of what makes mortality rates so high is that many patients aren’t diagnosed until the disease is in its later stages, when treatment can be difficult. But at Stonebriar Smile Design, Dr. Jill Wade wants to help patients catch oral cancer early, when treatment can be effective. Which is why she uses two great tools to screen patients.

In this post, we’ll look at one of those tools: OralDNA.

How Does OralDNA Help Dr. Wade Diagnose Oral Cancer?

OralDNA helps Dr. Wade asses her patients’ risk for a very specific kind of oral cancer—oral cancer caused by HPV. Tobacco use and excessive alcohol consumption are still the most common risk factors, but more and more cases are appearing in patients with none of these. In these cases, HPV is often the cause, in both women and men alike.

With OralDNA, Dr. Wade can easily screen you for HPV, and in particular, the HPV strains that have been linked to oral cancer. The test is simple, can be completed in a matter of minutes, and could save your life.

Want to know more about oral cancer screening with OralDNA? Call Dr. Wade’s Frisco dental office for questions and to schedule your appointment. We serve patients from Plano, McKinney, Allen, Dallas, and The Colony.

Spring into Straight Teeth

Introducing Invisalign Express 5

Express 5 is a treatment option for very minor orthodontic movement, such as mild spacing, crowding and orthodontic relapse. The treatment spans the course of 5 aligners changed out every 2 weeks making the total treatment time 10 weeks.

Dr. Wade is offering the Express 5 for a limited time discount for appointments scheduled before April 2. This includes a new custom set of bleaching trays after treatment is completed. For patients who do not qualify for Express 5 you do have the options of Invisalign Express & Comprehensive Invisalign treatment, and Dr. Wade is offering a discount on those as well.

Please, call today and schedule your consultation for treatment options. Up to $500 off for appointments scheduled before April 2, 2012. 972.377.7800