How to Stop Snoring Tonight...

The papers have been flooded this week with interesting articles all about sleep.

According to a survey published by the Etap hotel group, a quarter of married couples now sleep apart. Not all together surprisingly, the main cause for this is sleep being disturbed by a partner’s loud snoring, making nodding off at night near to impossible.

Here’s what one lady said:

‘I couldn’t stand Mike’s snoring, and would have to wake him to stop it — which meant that neither of us was getting a decent night’s sleep. 

“The solution was obvious. I now sleep in the marital bed, as I like to sit up and read, and Mike has moved to the single bed in the spare room.”

Indeed, this is the advice that’s become very popular at the moment, and is backed by some of the well-respected sleeping disorder websites.

I have to say this; it doesn’t sound like much of a solution to me.

So why I am I telling you this?

Having studied both snoring and a related condition called Obstructive Sleep Apnoea, I know that men snore a lot more than women. I know that it’s not usually the snorer that suffers, but rather the unfortunate sleeping partner.

I also know that attempts to stop snoring up until now have seen little success.

There are a plethora of cures for snoring, from sewing tennis balls into the back of your pyjamas to tapes across the bridge of your nose. I even heard last weekend of a friend whose wife insisted on surgery to remove his uvula (the dangly bit at the back of your mouth.) It’s very painful and not very effective.

The “gold standard for anti-snoring treatment is a device called a C Pap which involves sleeping with a special mask over your mouth and nose. However, there is now a very successful dental cure.

A dental appliance called a Mandibular Advancement Splint (Sleepwell™). It’s a very simple concept and brings with it really tremendous results. All it involves is positioning the lower jaw slightly forward, together with the tongue, and so increasing the airway and stopping snoring. It’s very effective, simple and relatively inexpensive.

So there’s now no need to have your sleep interrupted by your partner and certainly no need to find the extra bed. Everyone deserves the benefits of a good night’s sleep, including you.

When to start Orthodontics?

Orthodontics is the branch of dentistry concerned with straightening crooked teeth with braces.

Most people want their children to grow up with healthy, straight teeth. Some youngsters are just naturally blessed with straight teeth, but many need the help of a skilled orthodontist in order to fulfil their full dental potential. However, orthodontics is not just confined to children and many adults are now getting their smiles straightened out.

Children’s adult teeth normally come through between the ages of 6 and 13 as the baby teeth are shed. Some children have all their adult teeth earlier than this and some are a bit later. Girls tend to be a bit ahead of boys.

Orthodontics are usually provided after the baby teeth have all been lost. So commonly the early teenage years are when children get their braces.

There are some circumstances when children need braces at an earlier age than this. Also, some children need two courses of orthodontics; one at a young age to correct some specific development problems, and then again at the usual time.

Some children who need orthodontics never go on to get braces because their oral hygiene (how well they clean their teeth) is never good enough, their decay rate ( how many new cavities they develop) is too high or they have a bad habit such as thumb-sucking.

In these cases, braces may either not work or do more harm than good so, unless they can improve their bad habits, orthodontics will always be a no-no.

What Can Happen If Dental Pain Is Ignored?

It is perfectly understandable-many people try to “tough it out”…”true grit”…some people think it is “soft” to go to a dentist for “a little tooth ache” or an annual check up… however, constant or regularly reoccurring teeth problems is your mouth’s (only) way of warning you…maybe a potentially serious problem exists…pain is an alarm that should not be ignored!

IT COULD GRADUALLY GET WORSE

YOU COULD LOSE TIME AT WORK

IT COULD COST YOU A FORTUNE IN THE LONG RUN

After back pain, dental problems are one of the leading cause of time lost from work. In these days of company downsizing and job insecurity, you want to be at work and be your best when you are there.

IT COULD MAKE FUTURE NECESSARY DENTAL CARE MORE DIFFICULT, MORE TIME CONSUMING, MORE COSTLY AND LESS EFFECTIVE.

Delaying needed treatment…masking pain with aspirin, other drugs…may only succeed at making treatment more difficult when time comes that you no longer put it off.

IT COULD CREATE A NEED FOR DENTAL SURGERY.

Dental Surgery is no minor matter. Going “under the knife” always has some element of risk. Your ability to work, eat properly and play may be restricted after surgery. Surgery and recovery can be very costly.

JUST ASK YOURSELF THESE THREE QUESTIONS IF YOU’RE PUTTING OFF A DENTAL PROBLEM:

Is the clinical condition going to get better or get worse if left?

Is the dental treatment going to become easier or become more complicated the longer it’s left?

Is the cost of treatment in the future EVER going to be less than it is now, or is it going to go up year after year?