The Non-Surgical Treatment to Stop Snoring and Sleep Apnea
If you’ve had a sleep apnea study, you may have heard that surgery is a solution. When you’re struggling to get enough rest—or your family is complaining about loud snoring—sleep apnea surgery may sound good.
But before a surgeon puts you under anesthesia and alters your jaw or oral tissues permanently, let’s talk about an alternative.
Using a small, handheld laser dentistry tool, your dentist can now change the shape of your airway without anesthesia and without removing any tissue. More below.
What Is NightLase™, and How Can It Help Me?
Obstructive sleep apnea, the most common type, is caused by a blocked airway. The tonsils, tongue, or other oral tissues are getting in the way of your breath at night.
This is where one of the most exciting alternative treatments for sleep apnea comes in: the NightLase laser. At our local dentist office in San Jose, we use it to:
- Change the shape of oral tissues—while leaving tissue intact.
- Allow your body’s natural systems to work again, opening your airway.
- Get similar effects as surgery, with no pain or anesthesia.
- Treat patients who are afraid of surgery.
- Help patients sleep soundly again.
When this works for a patient, they often don’t have to use a sleep apnea CPAP machine or other sleep apnea devices. The small changes to the throat often take care of the issue—or you may use a comfortable sleep apnea mouth guard to enhance the effects.
How Does NightLase™ Work?
Using this amazing device, your sleep apnea dentist will focus a beam of light onto certain soft tissues, such as:
- The soft palate.
- Hard palate.
- Portions of the tongue.
- Posterior tonsils or pillars.
- Anterior pillars.
The light raises the temperature of the tissues, which some patients feel as if a warm mist of water were touching them. Of course, only light is touching the tissues.
Your dental specialist will carefully watch as the tissues change shape, moving your airway gradually to allow better nighttime breathing.
What Is a NightLase™ Treatment Like?
Each treatment only takes about 30 minutes in our dental clinic. We perform two steps during the session:
- The laser preheats an area.
- It then tightens the proteins, changing the tissue shape.
Each treatment changes the shape a little more; in other words, no single treatment is a drastic change on its own.
After each session, many patients report they can comfortably eat, drink, talk, and go about their day. That’s nothing like a dental surgery, which would put you on bed rest.
It may take several sessions, but many patients report their snoring getting quieter. Their own sleep becomes deeper, their sleep apnea symptoms start to fade, and their loved ones sleep easier too.
NightLase™ for a Good Night’s Sleep
Expect to visit our family dental practice a few times during a period of 7–9 weeks. We’ll give you a break of about three weeks between each appointment.
After this first series of treatments, we’ll also check up on your once per year. You may need another NightLase session to keep your airway in the right shape.
Your oral tissues keep changing throughout your life. Throughout each year, your snoring might increase as your airflow decreases. An annual treatment is usually enough to improve your sleep again.
The goal is to have you sleeping much better after the first few sessions. It’s really hard to sleep when you’re waking up gasping for breath. Even if it seems very difficult now, we have real sleep apnea solutions. Other patients just like you have gotten better.
Get Ready to Feel Great With NightLase™, and Contact Our Office Today!
Remember, getting plenty of oxygen while you sleep is very important for rebuilding your body’s tissues and refreshing your brain. If you’re waking up with headaches, dry mouth, irritability, constant fatigue, or other sleep apnea symptoms, it’s important to get immediate help.
Your first consultation is FREE! You don’t have to take any risk in order to talk over your issues with your family dentist, get a free exam, and get great advice.
If NightLase laser therapy is right for your situation, we’ll recommend it—or offer another effective sleep apnea treatment. NightLase is comfortable, fast, and complete in just a few sessions.
Call Advanced Dentistry by Design today for your FREE consultation to start moving toward great sleep.