Effective snoring treatment from Sacramento, CA dentists

The National Sleep Foundation reports that 90 million people in this country snore. Dr. Kosta Adams and Dr. Kristen Adams take a light-hearted look at this common condition, then offer serious advice on snoring treatment for their patients in the Sacramento, CA area.

Pillow talk

Snoring is a sound created when the airway is partially blocked, causing the soft palate to vibrate. The uvula is a fleshy extension of the soft palate. It is intended to keep you from aspirating foods and beverages when upright, then drop out of the way when you sleep. However, nasal congestion, alcohol consumption, obesity, or enlarged tonsils or adenoids can reposition the uvula and trigger snoring.
Snoring has many nicknames, depending on where you live:

• Northeasterners “saw logs,” an appropriate term for our timber lot states.
• Southern snorers “cut gourds” or “call hogs.”
• If you “hit a knot” you are probably from New England, California, or Colorado.
• In the South Midlands from Ohio to Oklahoma, snorers “take two rows at a time” comparing the sound to a double amount of tilling equipment.
• If you plan to do some serious snoring in Massachusetts, you will be “raking up the coals.”
• Wisconsinites “grind gravel.”
• In honor of the noisily-boiled staple of Pennsylvania Dutch dishes, snorers in this region “cook turnips.”
• Across the country, you might hear a variation of “rattle the shingles.”

When to seek snoring treatment from Sacramento, CA dentists

These regional idioms are great fun, and occasional simple snoring is not generally a health threat. However, chronic, loud snoring can be an indication of a serious health concern called obstructive sleep apnea. OSA blocks the airway, resulting in shallow breathing or full cessation of respiration, potentially dozens of times per hour. OSA places tremendous strain on the cardiovascular system and interrupts sleep.

In many cases, snoring and OSA can be dramatically improved with a discreet oral appliance. This splint, about the size of an orthodontic retainer, holds the airway open by positioning the jaw slightly forward with teeth apart and tongue depressed.

Would you like to learn more about dental treatment for snoring? Call Adams Dental Associates in Sacramento, CA at (916) 999-1302.