What Is Sleep Apnea?

Hello. I’m Dr. John Hyatt. I’ve been a dentist in the Boyertown area for the last 40 years. In the last five years, I’ve concentrated my studies on the treatment of people with snoring and sleep apnea with oral appliances. I’ve become a diplomat in the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, and we’ve accredited our facility with the association.

Sleep apnea is when your airway closes off during sleep. This can cause gasping, sputtering, or loud snoring. Ultimately, oxygen to the vital organs is reduced. And this can result in high blood pressure, heart disease, heart attack, stroke, congestive heart failure, or arrhythmias. It can also increase your risk for diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, GERD, mood disturbances, or even ED. Ultimately, it can result in sudden death.

There are only a few ways to treat snoring and sleep apnea– CPAP surgery or an oral appliance. Snoring is only treated with an oral appliance. If you have mild to moderate sleep apnea or even if you have severe sleep apnea and are looking for an alternative to your CPAP machine, your oral appliance treatment should be your treatment of choice. There are many different designs for oral appliances, but they all work the same way. They prevent the jaw and, therefore, the tongue The appliances that we make are custom fit from a digital scan of your mouth. They are laboratory made and FDA approved. We also provide follow-up care. And we work with your physician to maximize the success of your treatment. And we will work with your insurance company. These are all things that the over-the-counter appliances do not do.

One out of five people has sleep apnea. One in 10 of those people who have sleep apnea are getting it treated. I am so concerned that there are so many not being treated that we are offering a complimentary screening and evaluation to see if you qualify for an oral appliance and to see if you are at risk for sleep apnea. My recommendation to you is get your sleep apnea treated as soon as possible.