How Orthodontics Treatment Is The Solution To Sleep Problems

Featured Image Caption: Common Sleep Problems

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Sleep is an essential aspect of healthy living. so, you have to mind about the hours your eyes stay shut all night. Keep in mind that sleep quality is equally important as the number of hours you spend sleeping. Various issues can affect sleep quality and lack of sleep. Fortunately, a visit to an orthodontist can alleviate these sleep problems are you are about to discover below.

Common sleep problems fixed with orthodontic treatment

Sleep apnea

Literally meaning without breath, sleep apnea is a life-threatening sleep disorder. This condition involves regular interruptions during sleep caused by obstructions in the airway passage. You are likely to experience breathing pauses lasting a few seconds. These lead to an inadequate supply of oxygen in the lungs. This is likely to make you gasp for air, choke, snore loudly, or awaken frequently.

Some of the signs to tell you have sleep apnea include:

Irritability
Depression
Daytime fatigue
Reduced libido
Dry mouth
Morning headaches
Difficulty concentrating
Trouble remembering things

Adults suffering from sleep apnea should consider orthodontics in Canada . This is the first line of action to allow the doctor to identify and diagnose the obstruction. The orthodontist might refer you to a sleep professional if you have a sleep disorder. You will have to undergo special testing of your sleep pattern at the sleep clinic. A professional orthodontist will offer solutions such as aligning the jaws to enhance airflow. This will alleviate the problem of poor sleep.

Mouth breathing

Normal breathing is through the nose but not the mouth. However, various oral health conditions might make you breathe through the mouth. This requires exposing your teeth to air instead of saliva throughout the night. With time, your chances of getting cavities increase resulting from bacteria not being washed from your mouth anymore. This makes the mouth soft tissue to dry out leading to red, inflamed, and bleeding gums. Additionally, you might also experience chronic bad breath.

Breathing through the mouth doesn’t allow appropriate oxygen to reach the lungs making you lose sleep throughout the night. Children might breathe through the mouth when the poor position of the jaw inhibits closing the lips properly. This might also happen when the child has protruding teeth or off bite. Luckily, orthodontic treatment can fix all these issues for the child to naturally close their mouth and breathe through the nose.

Sleep bruxism

People who grind or clench teeth during sleep obviously have issues during sleep. Fatigue, stress, and snoring might cause nocturnal teeth grinding. This bruxism might also result from lifestyle habits including caffeine, alcohol, and smoking. Chronic bruxism might result in considerable damage to teeth. Additionally, you might end up with earaches and headaches.

Avoiding this requires visiting an orthodontist near you. Here, the doctor might recommend solutions including wearing a guard or retainer during the night to protect your teeth from damage resulting from overnight grinding. Another remedy is correcting bite to protect teeth from excessive wear and tear resulting from bruxism.

Temporomandibular Joint Disorder

Your jaw allows eating, speaking, and connects to the skull. The symptoms of TMD include locked jaw, aches in the front of the ear, and clicking sound when chewing or opening the mouth. This condition might result from an uneven bite but orthodontic treatment can remediate the problem. Fixing the bite will significantly improve the temporomandibular joint.

Clenching and grinding of teeth might also cause TMD. When you visit an orthodontist, you might be advised to wear a mouth guard at night to alleviate the condition. Alternatively, regular jaw strengthening exercises are an appropriate solution to lessen the condition. Alleviating temporomandibular joint disorder will help to make you sleep soundly throughout the night.

Misaligned teeth

People having misaligned teeth or jaws put pressure on the jaw and might even intensify bruxism. You can tell that your jaw is stressed with symptoms including headaches, neck and jaw pain at night. Dealing with these obviously makes sleep hard. Fortunately, an orthodontist can recommend braces to alleviate the misalignments stressing the jaws.

Braces offer a dazzling smile and make you sleep better to make you wake up feeling refreshed and relaxed the next day. When having sleepless nights, a visit to the orthodontist will help determine whether your teeth are misaligned. The orthodontist will suggest remedies to fix the misalignment to ensure that you get better sleep at night.

Bottom line

Sleep problems might result from bad bites or irregular jawline. Fortunately, an orthodontist can recommend solutions including appliances like braces to fix issues leading to improvement in sleep quality. Wearing retainers and mouth guards protects teeth from clenching and grinding at night to ensure that you sleep soundly. Visiting an orthodontist is strongly recommended when having sleep problems such as apnea. The professional will recommend the most appropriate remedy to encourage better sleep.