Did you know that an obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) screen is now a standard of practice for Canadian Dentists?
Did you know that Health Canada studies provide that 1 in 3 people suffer from some sort of sleep disorder?
Did you know that OSA is a leading risk factor for heart attack, stroke and early death?
Did you answer “no” to most of these questions?
This is why Care Dental is investing in our sleep practice, and has partnered with the Okanagan’s most highly certified sleep dentist, Dr. Steven Bray.
In order to help our patients and the broader internet sphere learn more, over the coming weeks and months we will be running our blog and social series titled #GetYourSnoozeOn.
Today we start with Chronic Headache.
A recent Canadian study found headache prevalence to be approximately 60%, with more than twice as many tension type headaches (TTH) as migraines. Another determined 46% with an active headache disorder. If these numbers scare you, consider that calculations indicate that disability attribuatable to TTH is larger worldwide to that of migraine. On the World HealthOrganization’s ranking of causes of disability, this would bring headachedisorders into the 10 most disabling conditions for the two genders, and into the five most disabling for women.
Another Canadian study showedover 70% of headache sufferers had impaired interpersonal relationships and had regular activities limited by TTH. Despite this, only 45% of TTH sufferers had ever sought medical attention and only 32% returned for ongoing care while 8% of the sufferers had used emergency departments.
Clearly, measures to reach the headache population are needed, as are safe and effective treatment options that will encourage them to take part in their care.
Dental factors may play a part and the temporalis m. of the temple is a large and important muscle in closure and posture of the jaw, other positioning muscles may also play in pain following spasm secondary to adaptive jaw and consequently head position alteration. It has been proposed that lateral pterygoid m. spasm may also contribute to retro-orbital pain.
Using reversible, non-pharmacological and non-invasive intervention may be of benefit, given the potential of headache medication to cause rebound (medication headache). A particular splint (some can exacerbate dysfunction) may provide either temporary or permanent relief. If temporary, this may act as a diagnostic determinant of long term management. Measures to reach the headache population for such intervention may act as an effective therapy for many TTH sufferers.
How Can Care Dental Help?
Sleep – Complimentary consultation, triage and testing for sleep disorders and a wide range of effective options for snoring, UARS and obstructive sleep apnea.
Dental complications – Sleep bruxism can cause severe tooth wear, fracture or loss, with breakage or failure of dental restorations, orofacial pain or headaches. Preventative intervention is available here at the clinic, as is temporo mandibular joint disorders(TMD) management.
Predictive testing for oral appliances – The MATRx device enables the remote adjustment of an inexpensive dental device overnight in the sleep clinic. This test allows predictive determination of the full control of snoring and/or OSA and the calibration required for optimum effectiveness. A specificindividual’s prescription may thenbe established.
There IS an alternative to CPAP
