Snoring: A Not So Silent Epidemic

Have you ever been to a dinner party when the topic of snoring came up? I have and it’s amazing. It seems to me that at such occasions about half the couples at the party complain about their snoring spouse. Puzzling, the snorer’s frequent defence is “well, my snoring isn’t bothering me!”

The long suffering spouse will then explain how they cope with their snoring spouse:

I have heard: “I go to bed first and try to fall asleep. As long as I fall asleep first I’m okay. But if I’m not asleep by the time the snoring partner goes to bed I’m in for a rough night. As soon as the snorer’s head hit the pillow they fall asleep and then the noise begins. And then I can’t fall asleep.

I have heard many strategies that the non-snoring spouse adopts:

(i) Sleeping in a separate bed across the room and throwing socks at their spouse when the snoring awakes them

(ii) Ear plugs

And if all else fails…

(iii) Separate bedrooms

Now, I am a dentist, not a marital therapist, but I suspect that separate bedrooms do nothing to promote intimacy in a marriage or relationship.

So what is one to do about a snoring spouse? There is one solution that works very well and is provided by your dentist. It is a snoring appliance; however some have referred to it as a marital aid as it allows couples that have been forced to sleep in separate rooms to again sleep together in peace.

There are many snoring appliances on the market but one appliance I have had very good success with is called the SUAD APPLIANCE. I have personally provided this appliance to many of my own patients with excellent results. But I have also personally used the SUAD appliance to treat my own problem snoring. Here is the story.

About six or seven years ago my wife Adi started to complain about my snoring. Of course, I went through the usual stages that I find people do go through when faced with the accusation that they snore: first, denial. Snore? Me? Impossible! That was something that my father did when I was growing up. But me?

The second step was trivialization. Although I knew my snoring bothered my wife I didn’t really realize how bothersome it was.

However, my wife, unlike other suffering spouses did not retreat to another bedroom to sleep. Instead, whenever my snoring awoke her she would wake me up and tell me “Jeff, you’re snoring. Don’t sleep on your back! Roll over onto your side.”

Sleeping on one’s side is known to reduce snoring and I would oblige by rolling onto my side. This would alleviate the snoring for a short time until I rolled back onto my back upon which the snoring would start again. Again this would awake my wife who would in turn wake me up again. This pattern repeated many, many times a night and for many nights until I was beginning to understand a simple concept most snorers are reluctant to accept It is incredibly annoying to be awoken many times a night, whether by an elbow or a partners snoring. So, I decided I would have to do something to end my snoring so my wife and I could sleep in peace.

Ironically, here I was a dentist who had made many snoring appliances for my own patients who snored yet I resisted wearing one myself. I knew the appliance would cure my snoring problem but I was concerned that it could aggravate an old jaw injury that I sustained as a kid.

. First, a word about snoring: Snoring is most often caused by the fact that when we sleep, our tongue relaxes and falls to the back of our throat, closing off our airway either partially or completely. The noise that snorers produce is the sound of the air we breathe in or out passing through the narrowed airway. This airway closure is more likely to happen when we sleep on our back (gravity and muscles pulling the tongue back). The snoring appliance is worn in the mouth and is actually quite comfortable. It is similar to an athletic mouth guard. It positions your lower jaw into a more forward position. The base of our tongue is attached to our lower jaw, so by bringing the lower jaw forward, the back of our tongue is brought forward. This opens the airway eliminating the snoring.

As a kid, I dislocated my jaw (sport injury) and it has clicked ever since. As well, many years ago it would have a tendency to lock and occasionally be sore. Luckily, my troublesome jaw healed and had not given me any trouble for over twenty years. So I really wanted to avoid wearing an appliance that changed my jaw posture while I slept, which in normal jaws is very safe. So, to end my own problem snoring I thought I would first try a few folk remedies. The first was suggested to me by a dental receptionist I once worked with when I first graduated. She sewed a tennis ball into the back of her husband’s pyjama top. The tennis ball prevented him from sleeping on his back and thus, no snoring. So I tried this method. I sewed a tennis ball into the back of my pyjama top. And what happened? The experiment lasted one night. I had one of the worst night’s sleep of my entire life. I found out that I must have really liked sleeping on my back for I remember waking up about five times an hour as I rolled onto my preferred position. In the morning I was exhausted, while my wife was joyful. She had a great night sleep! I didn’t snore at all!

Well, needless to say I had to search for another solution. So, when I retired for the night I stacked pillows in front of me and behind me and I proceeded to try to fall asleep on my side. I figured the pillows would prevent me from rolling on to my back as they were wedged behind me. Well, it seemed like a good idea but it didn’t work. I was once again sleeping on my back, pillows strewn on the floor (I should have nailed them down), and snoring…according to my wife.

Well, it was time to try the dental snoring appliance and to put it simply, it worked like a charm. It did not, to my relief, aggravate my old jaw injury and my wife and I could both sleep restfully.

I have been wearing my snoring appliance faithfully now for several years. I can personally attest to its durability. It has done its job night after night, has never needed a repair and has even survived a bout of chewing by my sixty pound golden retrieve-poodle mix. My dog had mistaken it for a chew toy.

And now a few final points.

1. A prediction: One day wearing a dental appliances for snoring will be as common as wearing eye glasses.

2. People who snore, especially loud snorers may also have a condition known as sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea is discussed in detail in the “snoring appliance” section of my website at www.beachdentistry.com . Before you consider having a snoring appliance made please read the important information contained in that article.

3. The other way to eliminate snoring and sleep apnea is by wearing a CPAP machine. This machine is comprised of a motor, a long tube or hose and a nose mask. The CPAP user wears the mask on their nose while they sleep. Oxygen flows through the mask into the airway keeping it open, eliminating snoring and sleep apnea. While effective, research shows that 30 % of people prescribed CPAP machines by their sleep doctors do not use the machine for a variety of reasons. If you either snore or suffer from sleep apnea you should definitely research the CPAP machine but bear in mind that many CPAP users tolerate a dental appliance more readily than the CPAP unit. The dental appliance is also silent, portable (slips into your pocket), does not require a power supply and perhaps less cumbersome to wear. Visit some CPAP sites on the internet to get a better feel for the CPAP unit.

4. If you should decide to have a dental sleep appliance made find a dentist who provides this service. Every dentist should provide this service for their patients but many do not as of yet.

In order to wear a dental snoring appliance you need to have a healthy mouth. If you have loose teeth or no teeth at all this will need to be addresses before the appliance can be made.

5. The cost of a snoring appliance is approximately $1000. Dental insurance often does not cover the cost of the appliance but other extended health insurance plans might (i.e. drug, semi-private coverage). An estimate can be sent to your insurance company to find out your level of coverage before proceeding. My office provides payment plans for this service.

As the snoring appliance should be expected to provide many years of restful sleep for you and your partner it is well worth the investment.

Please do yourself and your partner a favour and take the first step towards a better night’s sleep: call our office for your consultation to end your snoring now!

Dr. Jeff Shnall

May 2009

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