MENAKER
RODNEY
DENTISTRY
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ISSUE NO. 3 / April  2016 
Are You Getting a Good Night's Sleep? 
In our busy lives, we underestimate the need for a good night's sleep and the impact that it has on our body and our mind. A good night's sleep allows us to function at our best level with a clear mind and rested physical state. Unfortunately, most people do not get the rest they need. Some aspects of sleep we can control and some we can not. March was National Sleep Awareness Month 
and while it is centered around the change in our environment with daylight savings time, and moving our clocks, there is more to it. Clearly getting a good 7-8 hours of restful sleep each night is important, but there is another component to our sleep problems that is growing at an alarming rate and that is sleep apnea.

We all know someone who uses a CPAP machine to treat their sleep apnea. But the first step is understanding what apnea is. There are two main components to sleep breathing problems:
1) Apnea- a complete closure of the airway resulting in a total lack of oxygen flow to the body. You are basically suffocating and only come out of it as the body responds to this lack of oxygen, by choking and gasping for a breath.
2) Hypopnea- a partial closure of the airway resulting in a 30% or greater reduction of oxygen lasting for over 10 seconds.  

Try and hold your breath repeatedly for a few minutes and see how you feel.   Now imagine doing this for 7-8 hours a night. This is what happens when you have what we generally refer to as Sleep Apnea. It is a very dangerous and harmful medical condition that you would probably not be aware of unless your bed partner complained about you choking while you sleep, or your snoring.  Consider the following:
1) Almost 18% of men and 8% of women have sleep breathing problems
2) 50% of these are undiagnosed
3) Untreated sleep breathing problems can take 12 years off your life expectancy. When compared to smoking, which will reduce life expectancy by about 7 years, you realize the severity of sleep apnea.
4) Many medical problems like high blood pressure, heart issues, diabetes, and GERD can be related to sleep breathing problems. 

CPAP's (Continuous Passive Airway Pressure) devices are the gold standard of treatment for sleep apnea and work 100% of the time. Unfortunately, they are bulky, invasive, uncomfortable, and only have an estimated 50% compliance rate.  In many cases there is an alternative to CPAP, and that is a dental appliance called a Mandibular Advancement Device.  These devices can open the airway by moving the jaw forward and down, and they work well for treating apnea and/or snoring.
As your oral health care provider, dentists are playing a much greater role in evaluating and helping to treat sleep breathing problems. A good night's rest is crucial to your health, but sometimes it is out of your control. This is not just a matter of your oral health, but making sure your general health is the best that it can be. And it all starts with a good night's sleep. We are here to help any way we can.   
Your OralFit™ Minute
Oral Health and Your General Health 
 
The most misunderstood component to our oral health system is not teeth, gums, and bone, but rather it is Saliva.   It is one of the most crucial components to eating, chewing, and normal function.   It is ignored when it is good, but it becomes front and center when it is diminished.
Saliva is the watery substance that is secreted by glands in our neck and chin areas and it critical for normal function and health of the oral cavity.  Most importantly, it is essential in helping keep the teeth clean as it helps move debris away from the teeth and gums.   During eating, we notice an increase in salivary flow as our body responds to the sensory stimulation of food.   What we may not notice is a decrease in saliva that can rapidly cause a change in our oral health status.

Here are some intersting facts about saliva:
1)  Your six salivary glands produce almost 2 liters of saliva per day
2)  Saliva is required to taste food
3)  Saliva has great properties in it that help speed up the healing process

While we take normal saliva flow for granted, people with reduced salivary flow know the terrible consequences that can occur when this happens:
1)  Increased cavities in teeth
2)  Difficulty eating and tasting
3)  Gum problems due to plaque accumulation
4)  Difficulty sleeping as their parched mouth wakes them up

Reduced salivary flow can arise from medical conditions, chemotherapy and radiation, the medicines we take, and the normal aging process.   As your oral health provider, there are many things we can suggest and offer to help you but here are just a few quick ideas:
1)  Sip water regularly
2)  Use Biotene products
3)  Use Xylitol containing products
4)  Suck on sugar-free products to stimulate   saliva flow

We are happy to discuss this or any other concerns you may have!

We Look For It...
April is Oral Cancer Awareness month.  By now most of you are aware that we are performing an oral cancer screening as part of your routine exam at every 6
oral cancer 3
 month cleaning.  We check the sides of your tongue, the floor of your mouth, your palate, the inside of your cheeks, and all your oral soft tissue, for anylesions, discolorations, and anything abnormal.  We also rub the front of your neck and around your lower jaw to determine if any lymph nodes or glands are swollen.  We are concerned about more than just your teeth and want to help you stay healthy.
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Drs Menaker and Rodney | 2711 Randolph Road | Suite 205 | Charlotte | NC | 28207