Sleep and Snore Therapy

About Sleep
Why a Sleep Study
Do I need a sleep study?
• Valid reasons and indications for a sleep study may include any of the following:
• Snoring which disturbs your bed-partner (or neighbours!)
• Always tired
• Bruxism
• Insomnia
• Falling asleep whilst driving
• Disturbed sleep
• Going to the bathroom during the night
• Waking up tired
• Waking up with a headache
• Waking up with a dry or sore throat
• High blood pressure (or on medication)
• Depressed (or on medication such as Zoloft)
• Sexual dysfunction (or on medication such as Viagra)

People with a thick, short neck (> 42 cms in men, > 38 cm women) and BMI > 30 kg/cm are also more likely to have sleep apnoea, but about 10% of people with sleep apnoea are “skinny” – they just have narrow airways.

If you have any of the above symptoms or indications, you may have a sleep disorder which can be treated by your doctor or some Sleep Dentists.

What will a sleep study tell me?

The most important result is a measure of your sleep disturbance. The cause of most sleep disturbances is identified by measuring breathing, leg and jaw movements.
Sleep disturbance is reported as the Arousal Index, which is the number of times you wake up per hour of sleep. Most of these awakenings are too short to remember (only 3 to 10 seconds in duration – you usually only remember being awake if it lasts more than 5 minutes) and it is normal to wake up to 5 times per hour. Waking 5 to 15 times is considered mild disruption, while waking more than 15 times per hour definitely indicates a sleeping problem that requires urgent intervening treatment. The sleep study also reports how many times you stop breathing or have reduced breathing per hour (AHI – Apnoea Hypopnoea Index or RDI -Respiratory Disturbance Index) and how many times your legs twitch per hour (PLMI – Periodic Limb Movement Index).

What treatments are available?
Depends on the diagnosis, many people with sleeping problems have a combination of up to 88 different sleep disorders as defined by the International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ICSD). That is why a full sleep study is so important.

Bruxism

Bruxism refers to grinding of the teeth during sleep (and sometimes during the day). In addition to being detrimental to oral and dental health, the noise from bruxism is often disturbing for others. Bruxism can lead to headaches, jaw pain and daytime tiredness (from disruption to normal sleep brain-rhythms). If left undetected, dental damage will usually occur, leading to tooth loss and gum disease. The most reliable way to diagnose bruxism is during a sleep study with a recording known as an electromyogram (EMG). This picks up electrical signals from the jaw’s chewing muscles.

Approximately 8% of adults are conscious of teeth-grinding sounds at night-time.

Severe bruxism can contribute to daytime tiredness by causing awakenings from sleep and sleep-fragmentation. Bruxism is sometimes associated with snoring, sleep apnoea, or other night time movement disorders.

Bruxism frequently occurs due to psychological factors (including anxiety, stress and emotional problems), however it can be caused by a variety of other medical disorders (neurological and psychiatric disorders, substance abuse, and as a side-effect of medications). Bruxism can occur at any age, and is often noted in children and adults. There are no significant differences in bruxism rates between men and women.

Patients with bruxism usually experience cycles of improvement and worsening in their symptoms over time.

Risk factors for bruxism include: stress and anxiety, restless legs syndrome, sleep apnoea, smoking, use of illicit substances, and excessive caffeine and alcohol consumption.

If you think that you may have bruxism; you should see your General Practitioner or dentist. You may then be referred to a Sleep Physician, so that you can be investigated and suitable treatment can be implemented if necessary.

What is a Sleep Study?

A sleep study (also called a polysomnogram or PSG) is a specialised, non-invasive way to monitor many of your body’s physiological processes during sleep. Tiny sensors are applied to your scalp, face, chest, fingers and legs. The digital equipment measures your brain waves, eye movements, muscle activity, breathing, snoring, oxygen levels, heart rhythm, body position and movements while you are sleeping.

Sleep studies allow many complex medical disturbances that occur during sleep to be investigated.