Sleep Apnea; "apnea" is a Greek word that means "without breath." There are three types of apnea: obstructive, central, and mixed; of the three, obstructive is the most common. No matter the difference in the cause of each type, in all three, people with untreated sleep apnea stop breathing several times during their sleep, sometimes hundreds of times during the night and each time it can last for a minute or longer.

 Sleep Apnea may or may not be evident, to the patient or to others. An apnea event has four components.

1. First, the airway collapses.

2. Second, an effort is made to take a breath, but is unsuccessful.

3. Third, the oxygen level in the blood drops.

4. Finally, when the amount of oxygen reaching the brain decreases, the brain signals the body to wake up and take a breath. (This is what the bed partner hears as a silence followed by a gasp for air.)

• The most common of the three; obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a blockage of the airway. The soft tissue in the back of the throat collapses during sleep closing (obstructing) your airway. People with obstructive sleep apnea have an airway that is more narrow than normal, usually at the base of the tongue and palate. When lying flat, the palate is above the air passage. When the muscles relax, the palate can fall backwards. This obstructs the airway.
• With central sleep apnea, your airway is not blocked, your brain fails to signal the muscles to breathe.
• Suffering from mixed apnea, as the name veils, is a combination of the two. Your brain will alert you periodically, while the airway is obstructed consequently sleep is extremely brief and of poor quality.

Studies show that you are at higher risk for sleep apnea if:You are overweight, male, and over the age of forty. Although anyone is at risk and can suffer from sleep apnea, even children. Lack of knowledge and awareness in healthcare professionals, the majority go undiagnosed and untreated.

Untreated, sleep apnea can cause: diabetes, high blood pressure and other cardiovascular disease, memory problems, weight gain, impotency, fatigue, decreased alertness, and headaches. Fortunately, sleep apnea can be diagnosed and treated, which is what we do here at The TMJ sleep Center.

After receiving a sleep study, which is directed by your physician, we can fabricate a custom appliance designed to treat Sleep Apnea. In our office we use the newest version of the TAP Appliance, the TAP III. The appliance holds the lower jaw forward, preventing the tongue and the soft tissue of the throat from collapsing into the airway.

The simple steps to receiving your very own TAP appliance:

1) At your first appointment we will perform a CT Scan to evaluate your airway and determine whether or not you are a candidate for such a device. Impressions of your teeth will be taken in order to fabricate the bite recorder and your custom TAP. Last you will have an evaluation with Dr. Dwight where he will be able answer any of the questions you have and explain what treatment will in tale, what is expected of you during this time and what you can expect from us during the process.

2) Your next appointment will include determining your bite using a ball baring bite recorder (BBB's), this is then placed into your mouth and another CT scan will be taken to be sure that this will open your airway. We send the bite and your impressions out to the lab where your appliance is made.

3) The appliance is delivered to you at this appointment about16 days later. We will see you in two weeks after the delivery of your TAP III to assess the progress and effectiveness of your appliance, after which we are here at your request.