The Gift Of Sleep

Now is the time for you to be able to rest comfortably over the holiday season. Do you dread going to the in-laws or family’s house because you have to lug your noisy breathing machine with you? Do you wake up with dry mouth, struggling and tired because you have a thing on your face that does not let you rest comfortably? If you are tired of being tired, there is now another option for sleep apnea, a dental device by Dr. Judy Strutz and her team.

When you have sleep apnea and you lay down, your airway closes, preventing you from breathing properly. When you have a dental device that is fitted to your mouth, it keeps the airway open. You can sleep on your side, your back, or roll over during the night. You deserve the best sleep possible, especially over the holidays when you are spending time with family.

A dental device gives you the peace of mind to know you are getting the well-rested sleep you deserve, even during the busy holiday season when you are rushing from place to place.

For more information or for your consultation on a dental device for sleep apnea, contact Dr. Strutz and her team today.

Why Sleep Apnea Dental Treatments Can Change Your Life

You may have been living with sleep apnea for years or only months, but just a few days of sleep apnea can begin to negatively impact your life and change how you see the world. Dr. Judy Strutz and her team have spent significant time studying the impact of sleep apnea and how to help patients using dental devices.

Sleep is essential in order for your body to be able to heal itself, protect against disease, and other health problems. Sleep allows your body to have mental clarity and reduces stress. Without the proper treatment, your body is left craving the essential item it needs in order to function at the full peak performance.

By allowing Dr. Strutz and her team to fit you for a dental device to help with your sleep apnea, your body can begin to rebuild and regain its strength. It will no longer need to wake up hundreds of times a night in order to get the air it needs. You can rest peacefully and your body and mind can be as healthy as possible.

For more information about sleep apnea and treatment options, contact Dr. Strutz and her team today.

Have You Slept Yet?

It is time to take back your life, and tell your sleep apnea that it will not control you. You may have spent many restless nights, waking up in order for your body to get the breath it needs. Do you feel trapped inside your own body and are screaming for a way out? Well you do not have to suffer a minute longer. Dr. Judy Strutz and her team are able to conduct a dental consultation, and evaluate whether you are a candidate for a dental sleep device.

No more waking up tired, falling asleep at your desk or being irritable with your kids when they ask you for something. It is time you begin to get the night’s rest you deserve and take back the life you want.  Depending on the severity of your sleep apnea, you may wake up as many as 100x in an hour. This pattern does not allow your body to reach the rem sleep pattern it needs in order to function at optimal levels.

Sleep apnea has negative impacts that can bleed into other aspects of your life. If you are feeling tired and restless at 2:00 pm you may find yourself reaching for the extra caffeine to keep you awake. Caffeine not only negatively impacts your teeth and gums, but it can also cause unnecessary damage to your overall health.

For more information on sleep apnea contact Dr. Strutz today!

Are You Getting Enough Sleep?

It can be incredibly difficult to determine if you are getting enough sleep or if you are one of the millions impacted by sleep apnea. While there are several app’s that can be utilized in order to analyze your sleep, you can also take this short quiz if you think that you may have sleep apnea. If you answer yes to four out of five questions, you might want to consider scheduling an appointment with Dr. Judy Strutz for sleep apnea help today.

1.     Do you feel tired after you wake up? Often people report that they feel overly tired when they wake up. They may yawn or feel the need to drink more coffee and caffeinated beverages to stay awake throughout the day.

2.     Do you wake up suddenly feeling like you can’t catch your breath? Sleep apnea can cause you to stop breathing in the middle of the night and you may wake up several times throughout the night believing you can’t breath.

3.     Have you begun to fall asleep in odd places such as driving to work or in the office?

4.     Do you snore? While snoring is not the only symptom and some people snore when they do not have sleep apnea, other individuals did not snore prior to symptoms of sleep apnea, but do now.

5.     Do you feel depressed or have feelings of sadness that are unusual? “Once your body can not get the sleep it needs, you may be impacted by feelings of sadness or depression,” says Dr. Judy Strutz.

Dr. Strutz and her team can help find the right treatment today to get you back on track.

3 Role’s A Dentist Can Play In Sleep Apnea

While it is relatively new to have your dentist involved in your sleep problems, Dr. Judy Strutz and her team have been spending extra time studying how to help you with this process. Sleep apnea is a process where your body quits breathing multiple times throughout the night, due a problem with your tongue cutting off your airway. While there are other treatments available, dental devices and support from Dr. Strutz & her team can make this process less painful and more helpful to your overall health.

Sleep is critical for the body to recharge itself. Without proper sleep you may end up feeling tired, or restless, which can lead to problems at work. Step 1 is diagnosis. Before any treatment can begin, you first need to be diagnosed with sleep apnea. This can occur through a sleep study and/or by answering a few questions during your initial examination about sleep patterns, whether you snore, and how you feel when you wake up in the morning.

Dr. Strutz can evaluate what type of device is best going to work for your sleep apnea. In order to decrease the problems that occur with sleep apnea, the key is to keep your jaw and tongue in a certain position. Dental devices can keep your tongue from falling in the back of the throat and cutting off your airway.

Once you have been evaluated, and the type of device you need as been determined, Dr. Judy Strutz and her team can design a custom appliance. By having it done in the office it ensures you have an amazing fit that will get you on your way to a restful night’s sleep.

For more information on sleep apnea contact Dr. Strutz & her team today.

10 Signs You May Have Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea can cause multiple long-term negative effects to your body and your mind. “After months or years of never really getting a good night’s sleep, your body can begin to break down,” says Dr. Strutz. You can feel that you’re never fully rested, and /or fall asleep at work or while driving. Don’t wait until it is to late. Answer these few questions to see if you have sleep apnea and get help today.

1.     Do you wake up tired even after you feel you have gotten enough sleep?

2.     Do you feel very tired after you have awoken?

3.     Do you feel that you are walking through a fog?

4.     Do you snore?

5.     Do you gasp for air or feel you are chocking?

6.     Do you wake up throughout the evening?

7.     Do you wake up with dry mouth or sore throat?

8.     Do you struggle with memory loss?

9.     Do you wake up with morning headaches?

10.  Do you feel moody, irritable or depressed?

If you answered yes to any of these questions you may be one of several thousand people that are impacted by sleep apnea. Contact Dr. Judy Strutz and her team today for help.

To Fix Or Not To Fix

Americans are faced with multiple problems throughout their day that impact their smile, their teeth, and their health. Sleep apnea is a common problem that impacts millions of Americans. While some people move about their day faced with sleep deprivation problems there is help you can get.

Some may feel that snoring once in a while is a minimal issue, or that treatment may be too expensive, but that is not the case.  Dr. Strutz and her team can help you achieve the rest you deserve so there is no reason to live one more day without help. Lack of sleep not only impacts your relationships, but after a while your body begins to break down. Your muscles will not work as efficiently and that includes your brain.

Waking up throughout the night to catch your breath can lead to death. Even if your sleep apnea is mild, one time not waking up to catch your breath is a problem. While sleep apnea may begin mildly, it can rapidly increase to a problem where you are waking up over twenty times a night in order to catch your breath, putting additional stress on other organs like your heart and lungs.

You may tell yourself that this isn’t the type of  procedure you want to invest in for yourself, but honestly, the impact to your health is too great not to at least visit with your dentist. Sleep apnea impacts mental clarity, internal organs, your motivation, your mood and ultimately your overall health and vitality.

If you think you may have sleep apnea contact Dr. Strutz and her team today for a consultation.

4 Facts About Snoring You Need To Know

Laying in bed, you hear a noise come from your partner and realize they are snoring. Light or occasional snoring, while it may be disruptive to your sleep, is common and doesn’t usually signify a major problem. But if you are kept awake, night after night, by loud snoring, this could be a sign of a larger problem with your partner. Or if you are someone who wakes up hundreds of times throughout the night because you stop breathing due to an obstructed airway, you have symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea. Most people who have sleep apnea go undiagnosed because they believe it is just them snoring and not a warning of a more serious condition.

If snoring is loud and happens on most evenings it is time to get help. While it may seem strange to go to your prosthodontist for a sleep problem, Dr. Judy Strutz and her team can complete a comprehensive evaluation to determine if your snoring is a sign of a sleep apnea and she can then help provide options to help.

Snoring can be characterized as gasping for air, choking or making snorting sounds. Throughout the evening, due to a partial air blockage, your body may feel it is not getting enough oxygen. In order to compensate for the lack of oxygen, you may wake up several times in order to, “catch your breath,” says Dr. Strutz. This constant waking up can cause problems with overall quality of sleep and can also impact your memory, work performance and ability to function during the day.

Snoring can create sleep deprivation. If your body is waking up all throughout the night you may never hit the REM sleep that is necessary in order to feel restful and not tired the next evening. Individuals who are constantly tired may also struggle with relationships, have less tolerance for others or lose mental focus.

Snoring and sleep apnea should not go untreated, especially now that there are simple ways in which you can fix this problem. Call today to ensure a restful night’s sleep tomorrow.

Women & Sleep Apnea

More men than women are diagnosed with sleep apnea every year, but women are not exempt from the negative effects of lack of sleep.  Sleep apnea can be treated with Dr. Strutz and her team. There are times where the alignment of the jaw or the size of the palate can cause you to have a restless night's sleep, but there are options other than wearing a loud c-pap machine that might help.

Dr. Judith Strutz says, "one possible option is an appliance you may wear at night when you sleep." The appliance should be custom fit by your experienced sleep dentist in order to not cause additional jaw problems. This process can take a few appointments as you want the device to fit appropriately. Once the device is custom created most individuals report they are very comfortable to wear.

The oral device is designed to reposition the jaw when sleeping in order to prevent it from moving to a position that closes off the airway. It can also help strengthen the tone of the tongue. Many times the tongue can be a culprit in cutting off the airway. The appliance helps keep even the strongest tongue in the correct position throughout your sleep cycle.

Sleep apnea is not something you should live. The dangers are too great. See your sleep dentist to get help now.