If you suffer from sleep apnea, you know how this serious problem can affect your life every day. From feeling drowsy all day to having frequent headaches, having your sleep interrupted by sleep apnea every night can leave you feeling simply miserable.
Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that causes those affected by it to stop breathing in their sleep. The vast majority of the time, this failure to breathe is the result of a blockage caused by the collapse of soft tissues in the mouth and throat. These tissues block the airway, causing the person to wake up in order to resume breathing. This process can repeat itself possibly hundreds of times during a night’s sleep, leaving the person with sleep apnea feeling fatigued no matter how much sleep he or she gets. In time, sleep apnea may cause other problems such as strokes, heart failure, diabetes, and depression.
This may sound more like a medical concern than a dental concern, and though it is in some ways, dentists are specially equipped to help you treat sleep apnea. Because the soft tissue collapse that causes the problem is related to the structures in your mouth, in many cases, a dentist can fit you with an oral appliance that can effectively solve the problem. Many patients find this preferable to the more invasive treatments that many doctors suggest. Some dentists can even provide the testing necessary to discover if you have sleep apnea. At Eastland Dental Center, we will supply you with a special diagnostic tool so that we can test you for sleep apnea at home. If you have sleep apnea, we can have you fitted with The Moses, an oral appliance specially designed to give you freedom and comfort while putting an end to sleep apnea.
Give us a call today at (309) 663-4711 to make an appointment to meet with a dentist in Bloomington, IL to find out if we can help you to get a good night’s sleep once again by treating your sleep apnea with the latest technology.
Eastland Dental Center is owned and operated by the father-daughter duo, Dr. Mike Milligan and Dr. Marisa Milligan.
Dr. Mike completed his doctor of dental medicine degree from Southern Illinois University in 1978. Dr. Marisa completed her doctor of dental medicine degree from Midwestern University in 2015. Both doctors have logged hundreds of hours of continuing education to stay on top of the latest technologies in dentistry as well as the most current research on the oral-systemic, mouth-body connection to benefit their patients. Dr. Mike and Dr. Marisa are active members and in excellent standing with the American Dental Association, Illinois State Dental Association, Chicago Dental Society, McLean County Dental Association, American Academy of Oral Systemic Health, and numerous other societies.
Both doctors are avid golfers and have won several national golf tournaments over the years. They are the only father-daughter team in the state to have won the Illinois State Amateur Golf Championship. Dr. Mike in 1974 and Dr. Marisa in 2005.
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