Dentist offers screening for Obstructive Sleep Apnea -3092

August 10th, 2012
Dentist offers screening for Obstructive Sleep Apnea -3092

Dr. Samuel Romano whose practice is based in New Jersey, USA is able to screen patients who are possibly afflicted by a major sleeping disorder called Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA).

This particular problem causes people to stop breathing temporarily as often as hundreds of times each night, depending on the severity of the condition. While this is not serious in itself, if left unchecked it can lead onto more serious medical problems including cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, and even heart attacks.

Oral health and physical health are now known to be linked. This means, problems such as OSA are likely to have a root cause within the oral cavity and connected tissues such as the ear, nose and throat.

Symptoms of OSA include snoring, insomnia, morning headaches, moodiness and irritability, excessive daytime fatigue, forgetfulness, difficulty concentrating and gastrointestinal reflux.

Interestingly, Dr. Romano has developed a technique allowing him to visit patients in their own home, thereby enabling them to feel more relaxed and open. He uses three types of data to determine the best approach. These are diagnostic testing, sleep study results and personal evaluation. Each approach is personal to the individual as the cause or causes will invariably be different in each person.

Dr. Romano is also a different kind of dentist as he has a different perception about what dentistry is and what it should be about. He told reporters: “My vision is to change the way you perceive dentistry and to improve your quality of life.”

He added: “The addition of sleep apnea therapy into my practice gives me the opportunity to enhance my patients overall health, which is very important to me.”

Once the early tests are completed and a proper diagnosis determined, the patient is then fitted with a personalised gadget which is designed to keep the airway from collapsing or becoming blocked.

The patient is then monitored to ensure that the appliance is doing its job. Additional recommendations are then made based on the treatment history of the patient for his or her insomnia. In some cases, CBD oil products are recommended as a sleep aid for patients in the first few months of their sleep apnea treatment.

 

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