What is sleep dentistry?

Sleep Dentistry is the aspect of dentistry where we at Eric Heim Dental evaluate your risks for having sleep apnea. If you have sleep apnea, we are able to treat it with an oral sleep appliance.

What is an oral sleep appliance?

An oral sleep appliance is an appliance that fits perfectly to your top and bottom teeth which moves your lower jaw forward to open your airway during sleep.

How do I know if I have sleep apnea?

At Eric Heim Dental, we will evaluate you to see if you have risk factors for sleep apnea. Some risk factors include: snoring, grinding your teeth, large tongue, small airway, large neck, sleepiness throughout the day, older age, and fatigue. If you do have some risk factors we will refer you to a sleep center to have a sleep study done. Sleep studies can be done at home or in a lab.

Will an oral sleep appliance treat anything else other than sleep apnea?

An oral sleep appliance is also able to treat snoring and it will protect your teeth from grinding at night.

Will a sleep appliance be able to treat my sleep apnea if I am unable to tolerate a CPAP?

If you are unable to tolerate your CPAP machine, then an oral appliance is a great treatment to improve your sleep.

What is the process to make an oral sleep appliance?

We will evaluate you for risk factors and the sleep physician will diagnose you with sleep apnea. The sleep physician will write a prescription for an oral sleep appliance. Dr. Heim will scan your teeth with our digital scanner and position your jaw in the correct location. After gathering the information, the dental lab will fabricate the sleep appliance and we will deliver it to you in the office. Dr. Heim will make sure that everything fits properly. We may have to make adjustments to the appliance after delivery. We will have a 6 month follow up and yearly follow ups after that. We will recommend having a new sleep study done with the appliance to make sure it is working properly.

Is my dental insurance billed for an oral sleep appliance?

No, we will bill your medical insurance.

Who is able to make an oral sleep appliance?

Qualified sleep dentists are able to make oral sleep appliances. Dr. Heim is a Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine and is a qualified provider through the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine.