Snore Guards

Perhaps every spouse’s nightmare is being woken up in the middle of the night by your loved one’s snoring — or even worse, being the one who wakes the up other by snoring. Most of the time, though, they end up just putting up with the annoyance. After all, snoring, for the most part, is merely just an annoyance, isn’t it?

Did you know that it doesn’t have to be? Dr. Mason Konkle, Dr. Jennifer Konkle and Dr. Hyrum Hatch at Hatch Family Dentistry provide inexpensive and simple solutions to snoring that might surprise you with how effective they can be.

What are the causes of snoring?

To understand why solutions to snoring like snore guards work, you first have to understand why snoring occurs in the first place. We normally define snoring by its sound, but what actually happens during snoring is that the airflow between the mouth and the nose is somehow obstructed. This can happen for a number of reasons, including but not limited to:

• A stuffed nose: Have you ever noticed that your snoring gets worse when you have allergies, a cold or sinus infection? This is because the mucus in a stuffy nose obstructs the nasal airways and can cause snoring.
• Overly relaxed throat and tongue muscles: It may sound funny, but when the muscles in your throat and tongue become too relaxed while you sleep, they can obstruct the airflow as well. This can happen as a result of deep sleep, taking some types of sleeping pills, and alcohol consumption.
• Bulky throat tissue: Do you know of anyone who had their tonsils removed as a child? This might be because large tonsils and adenoids can block the airways and cause snoring. Most of the time, this is only a problem observed in children, though.

It may not sound like much, but this obstruction of the airways can actually be very serious. People with chronic snoring often experience sleep apnea, or breathing irregularities while sleeping, which can have a number of adverse effects on its own. Preventing chronic snoring, then, can be important not only to get rid of the annoyance but also to preserve a patient’s general health.

How can the Silent Nite sleep appliance help my snoring?

At Hatch Family Dentistry in Tempe, AZ, our method for preventing snoring is the Silent Nite sleep appliance. Although other procedures, like surgery and specialized devices do exist, we believe that the snore guard is more than sufficient to treat the majority of snoring-related issues in our patients.

The Silent Nite sleep appliance is essentially a mouthguard worn while sleeping to adjust the position of the teeth. You can think of it like an invisible retainer, similar to the type that orthodontics patients wear. It conforms to the shape of the teeth exactly and positions them in a healthier way. As such, Silent Nite appliances are not pre-made, store-bought devices, but rather highly specialized treatments that are designed to fit every patient’s need specifically.

How does it work? The appliance prevents snoring by making a very simple modification to the mouth structure. It positions the lower jaw slightly forward to naturally open up your airways. You can try it out on your own by laying on your back and breathing with your lower jaw shifted up. You’ll experience a noticeable difference in how easy it is to draw in breath. Because you can’t keep up the same control over your jaw while you sleep, we prescribe a simple snore guard that can adjust the positioning of your jaws for you while you sleep.

To take advantage of this unique procedure or to learn more about how to prevent snoring, visit Hatch Family Dentistry in Tempe! You can set up an appointment to discuss potential treatment options with one of our dentists by simply calling our office at (480) 838-3073 or by visiting our website today!

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