BREATHING THROUGH APNEA DIAGNOSIS Treating obstructive sleep apnea with dental appliances
Shari Prommer thanks her lucky stars that she went on vacation with her family eight years ago. Shari’s daughter, who shared a room with her, said, “Mom, do you know that you sit up and gasp for air many times during the night?” Shari says, “And I did not! I had no idea! It had never woken me up.” Shari realized she had been exhausted all day, every day, for a couple of years. The build was so gradual that she hadn’t noticed. She says, “I hadn’t made it through a full episode of a television show in years!”
She says, “You’d think I’d sleep from pure exhaustion! But the noise was in my head…” Grumpy and sleep-deprived, she returned the CPAP to her specialist. She was told she would “get used to it,” but knowing herself, she objected and was referred to Dr. Hernández. She thought, “Why didn’t they tell me this first?!” Shari says that within a few days of getting the appliance, “The difference was remarkable.” Even with the improvement to her energy from her thyroid treatment. “I went to sleep and felt like I’d had rest for the first time in years!”
Hernández says that CPAP machines unarguably treat obstructive apnea, but the problem can be that patients don’t use them for various reasons, including noise and comfort. She says, “The appliances also work, not as fast, but as effectively, because patients are more compliant wearing them.” Shari’s device has kept her stable for more than six years. The lethargy and exhaustion haven’t returned. Hernández says, “Every patient is different, and not every treatment option is right for everyone. In this case, an appliance worked best for the patient”.
Shari’s doctor diagnosed her with low thyroid function and moderate to severe sleep apnea. Dr. Ivonne Hernández, Clinical Assistant Professor at the School of Dentistry and a specialist in oral and facial pain at the TMD/Orofacial Pain and Sleep Disorders Clinic in Edmonton, says that with available treatment options today, apnea is much less scary than when she started treating people with apnea over ten years ago. Once she was diagnosed, Shari was given a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine to try, the standard treatment for sleep apnea. She put it on the first night and couldn’t sleep. The noise the machine makes kept her from falling asleep.
Fall 2020 | 9
Patient: Shari Prommer
