The signs and symptoms of sleep apnea are significant. Patients are aware of some but only their partners and family know about others. When a partner listens carefully, there's silent periods when the patient stops breathing while sleeping. The most common cause is the tongue falling backwards into the throat and closing off the airway. Because of the airway blockage, there's choking, gasping, and/or gagging during sleep. The body is attempting to remove the obstacle from the throat.The patient may wake up frequently to go to the bathroom. Waking up is in fact the way the brain deals with the problem since the muscles then come under conscious control. A dental sleep apnea device can often be very effective in preventing the tongue from falling backwards.

          Another one of the signs and symptoms of sleep apnea is waking up with profuse sweating that occurred during sleep. In most cases, some air does get through the narrowed airway and this causes vibration of the soft tissues along with loud sleep apnea snoring. Unfortunately, many dentists will unknowingly treat the snoring and fail to diagnose the sleep apnea. Because these patients do not get good sleep, they wake up tired and unrefreshed and continue to be lethargic all throughout the day. Drinking strong coffee is a favorite morning habit of these patients in order to combat their tiredness.

          Some of the signs and symptoms of sleep apnea have to do with a lack of life sustaining oxygen in the blood. It's like having a plastic bag over your head. This causes memory loss and learning difficulties, a short attention span, and poor judgement. The patient can become quite frustrated and a short temper can be aggravated. The lack of oxygen also causes depression along with overeating and rapid weight gain in the body's an attempt fight the lack of energy. The brain has to have adequate oxygen to function normally.

          Daytime sleepiness is one of the signs and symptoms of sleep apnea. Some patients even fall asleep while driving which often results in serious automobile accidents. This can be a very serious problem. The lack of REM sleep causes personality changes much like a manic depressive personality. There can be frequent emotional outbreaks as part of the patient's response to the frustration of having to deal with continual exhaustion. Morning headaches are what often tip a TMJ dentist off that there is a problem. Dr. Padolsky practices with the Atlanta Dental Group PC. If you would like to consult with our sleep apnea dentist, call 404-874-7428 for an appointment. It's the first step in taking great care of yourself and perhaps avoiding the most serious problem, sudden sleep apnea death.