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What to Do About Snoring if You’ve Tried Everything?

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Anthony Burgess is famous for two things: the book A Clockwork Orange and the quote, “Laugh and the world laughs with you, snore and you sleep alone.” Snoring isn’t just annoying. It can have serious impacts on your health, affecting everything from mood to metabolism. If you’ve tried everything, this Anchorage holistic dentist has the answers.

Looking for an alternative approach to general dentistry? Connect with Mandanas Dental.

What Exactly Causes Snoring? 

When you’re sleeping, the tissues on the roof of your mouth, tongue, and throat relax. At times, these soft tissues relax too much that they partially block your airway, especially if you are sleeping on your back. The air flows through the throat, which in turn causes a vibration or also known as the snoring sound. If your airway is blocked off more than usual, the snoring sound will gradually increase and get even louder. This could be a problem for not only you, but either the people you live with whether that’s your family, friends, roommates, or your significant other. Their sleep may also be disrupted by the constant snoring sound.

Why Am I Snoring So Often? 

Snoring can take place and occur at any given time and is surprisingly common in most people. But do not be discouraged. According to Sleep Education, about half of people snore at some point in their life. Snoring is more common in men. About 40 percent of adult men and 24 percent of adult women tend to snore more often.

Other Causes for Snoring May Include: 

  • Pay close attention to the position in which you sleep at night. Do you often find yourself falling asleep on your back? Sleeping on your back is one of the most common positions you’ll find people start their snoring pattern in. Perhaps, try sleeping on your side to promote better airflow. 
  • Some people are just naturally born with a narrow airway and that is nothing to be ashamed of. Snoring is quite a common thing. Your airway might be obstructed due to a low and thick palate, elongated uvula, or large tonsils. 
  • Feeling congested? This could also be another possibility as to why you’re snoring. If your nasal passage is congested, tight, and blocked with mucus, it makes it very hard for air to flow through properly, causing people to snore.

How Snoring Affects Your Dental Hygiene 

Dry Mouth

You’ve probably heard of snoring causing bad breath. That is correct. Have you ever wakened up with an extremely dry mouth and bad breath out of the ordinary? When you snore, your mouth is open for hours on end overnight. This causes to a change in the smell of your breath in the morning as well as a lack of saliva circulating through your mouth. 

Tooth Decay 

Since snoring leads to dry mouth, what does dry mouth lead to? Leaving your mouth open all night causes several oral health concerns such as bacteria build-up, tooth decay, and even infections and sores inside the mouth. Saliva plays a crucial factor in preventing dry mouth. Saliva is able to get rid of leftover food, bacteria from the tongue, gums, and cheeks. When saliva is not present, it increases the risk of potential tooth decay from the food not being able to decompose, leaving behind a funky smell. 

Holistic Dentistry Can Help! 

What sets aside a traditional dentist from a holistic dentist, also referred to as an integrative dentist, is that a traditional dentist will solely focus on the teeth and mouth, whereas a holistic dentist will focus on the whole body when considering different treatment options. 

If your snoring is causing issues for you, schedule an appointment today.

Holistic dentistry is perfect for families.

Holistic Dentists: Why We Do What We Do?

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The slogan on the homepage of our website says: “Where Healthy Living, Healthy Breathing, Healthy Sleeping, and Dentistry Meet.” Mandanas Dental was founded by Dr. Owen Mandanas, who practiced as a general dentist for 17 years before looking for a better approach. The sentence on our website sums it up perfectly.

Dentistry is about so much more than teeth – your oral health can impact every aspect of your well-being, which is why it’s important to treat each patient holistically.

Need an appointment? Click here to contact our team.

What is Holistic Dentistry?

That’s what holistic dentistry means, by the way. It’s a philosophy that acknowledges the impact the mouth has on whole-body health. The mouth affects the way we ingest food and drink, which is the fuel we need to survive and function at our best. It also affects the way we breathe, which brings our cells the oxygen they need to function. The mouth is also intrinsically linked to the quality of our sleep, because anatomical issues can cause serious problems like sleep apnea.

Holistic dentists are fully-qualified dentists. We can perform all the same check-ups and procedures as regular dentists, such as general dentistry, cosmetic dentistry, dentures, dental implants, orthodontics, and even sedation dentistry (you can view our services page to learn more).

However, they take it a step further than just improving your smile and filling your cavities. For Dr. Mandanas, it began by successfully helping people correct sleep disorders with dental appliances. It started a journey of further education that means she now sees herself as being part of a patient’s health care team instead of just stepping in and out as their tooth doctor.

Through this lens, holistic dentists can also advise you on the link between oral health and things such as gut health, high blood pressure, heart disease, weight gain or weight loss, and more.

Finding a Holistic Dentist in Anchorage

Dr. Mandanas was born in the Philippines but grew up in South Carolina. She completed her undergraduate education in English at Goucher College in Maryland before going to study dentistry at Northwestern University in Illinois. She has two decades of experience and is a self-described “dental geek,” who still love studying her craft. When she moved to Alaska, she spent time serving the Native Alaska community in Nome, before settling in Anchorage with her husband and two sons.

She’s affiliated with a number of key organizations, such as the American Academic of Dental Sleep Medicine, Academy of Clinical Sleep Disorder Disciplines, American Academy of Physiological Medicine and Dentistry, and International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology. She’s also a member of the Holistic Dental Association, American Dental Association, and Alaska Dental Society.

Her main interest is in sleep breathing disorders and she loves studying craniofacial anatomy. In other words, she’s the person to see if you’re having trouble with things like snoring, difficulty breathing at night, and sleep apnea. She’ll talk to you about your symptoms, figure out exactly why you’re experiencing them, and discuss a range of treatment options with you.

What is the Future for Holistic Dentistry?

Holistic dentistry is constantly evolving. Like Dr. Mandanas, most practitioners are – well, we already know they’re geeks – and they’re always combing through new research to find better ways of doing things. Here at Mandanas Dental, the team is committed to having an open mind and considering natural, evidence-based approaches to oral health as well as traditional methods. That way, we can be sure to find the best option to suit each patient, based on their personal circumstances.

Holistic dentistry is known by a lot of names, including integrative dentistry, progressive dentistry, and biocompatible dentistry. It’s an evolution in dental practice that will help you achieve optimal health through a personalized treatment plan that favors natural treatments where possible. We believe it leads to the best possible patient outcomes – and as such, it’s the future of dentistry.

Ready to try holistic dentistry for yourself? Schedule an appointment today.

Use DNA to Improve Snoring

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shutterstock_346374167_720Did you know that 27.4% of Alaskans are sleep deprived?

As we discussed the connection between Sleep Apnea and TMD we touched on some ways that we could help you with snoring and sleep apnea problems. The newest tool in our arsenal is a DNA Appliance System. As one of only two certified providers in Alaska, we are proud to begin introducing this system to our state and helping nearly a third of our state to rest better.

So what is the DNA Appliance System?dna logo

Though your genes can be a factor in whether or not you suffer from sleep apnea, in this instance we aren’t talking about Deoxyribonucleic acid or Ribonucleic acid. The Daytime-Nighttime Appliance (DNA) is a patented, FDA registered device that aims to correct the underlying issue instead of simply masking it. In combination with the mandibular Repositioning-Nighttime Appliance (mRNA) this system allows us to gently and non-surgically correct many of the issues that cause TMD, Sleep Apnea, snoring, and headaches.

The other method that we like to use to manage snoring and sleep apnea is a Mandibular Advancement Device. This simple protrudes your lower jaw in an effort to keep your airway from collapsing as you sleep. This device still has a firm place in our treatment line-up, but it does have some drawbacks. The biggest one being that it has to be worn over a lifetime.

A longer term solution is to use non-surgical airway remodeling of the upper airway so that the underlying issues can be fully resolved.

The DNA is worn during the evening and at night. It gently increases the size of your upper jaw over time. Which, in turn, increases the volume of the nasal airway. More volume means more air, less constriction, and more sleep.

The mRNA is worn at night. It corrects the position of your teeth and places them in a more natural position. It also increases the redevelops the upper airway. This combined approach helps to reduce TMD symptoms, headaches, and snoring in patients of all ages.

If you’re looking for a solution to your sleep issues that doesn’t involve surgery, drugs, pain, or injections, contact us today! We’d be happy to tell you more about the new option and see if it’s right for you.

The TMD and Sleep Apnea Connection

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headache

Are you suffering from daytime drowsiness, high blood pressure, morning headaches, depression, decreased libido, or impaired concentration? Is your partner suffering with a bed-mate who snores?

You might have sleep apnea or sleep disordered breathing.

Do you hear clicking in your jaw, struggle with painful chewing, have trouble opening or closing your jaw properly, feel tension in your temple muscles, have toothaches, or headaches?

Then you might have Temporal Mandibular Disorder.

Be wary though, TMD and SDB share many symptoms and occasionally TMD symptoms can mimic or mask those of sleep apnea. More often however, where there is one you will find the other because the two are interconnected.

Sleep apnea leads to TMD.
When people who suffer from sleep apnea grind their teeth or shift their jaw in an unconscious attempt to find a better position in which to breathe can cause the temporomandibular joint to become inflamed and exacerbate a pre-existing TMD.

TMD leads to sleep apnea.
If your teeth aren’t positioned correctly then your lower jaw can go back too far when it closes. If your jaw goes back too far this can cause problems with your temporomandibular joint. TMD can lead to headaches and jaw aches. Head and jaw aches cause your head to move forward, straining the neck. Ongoing neck strain can cause the normal curvature of your spine to degenerate which restricts normal movements like those needed to breath unobstructed. The DNA Appliance System is a new solution that we’re excited to begin implementing.

In most cases this cycle can be prevented. With a simple treatments such as Six Month Smiles or Ortho-tain, we can make sure that your teeth are properly aligned. And with a simple Mandibular Advancement Device we can prevent your airway from being blocked by your tongue and the soft tissues of your throat.

If you’re suffering with TMD, jaw pain, headaches, and interrupted sleep, contact us today to see if we can help you feel better.