How to Treat Snoring and Sleep Apnea

Mike Wiegenstein: It doesn't, you know it's hard the noise that makes. Dr. William Langstaff: No, no that people move, they sleep, they don't always sleep on their backs, they sleep on their sides, they sleep on their stomachs there are so many different. Mike Wiegenstein: It can be real good for your, you know if you are significant other one sort of another is lying next you rollover looking like this. Dr. William Langstaff: You don't make babies with this very well. Mike Wiegenstein: It doesn't look very good. Dr. William Langstaff: Yeah. Mike Wiegenstein: Alright, so now we know that prior to demonstrate getting highly involved in this. You are seemed for the study, you were hooked up, you're wired up, you laid in bed, they watch to all night. You are now telling me that you can do most of those tests at home. Dr. William Langstaff: Well, it turns out and this would convenience me to start doing this type of procedure. Mike Wiegenstein: And so everybody knows this is what they call a watch pad and basically this goes on my arm. Dr. William Langstaff: Yes. Mike Wiegenstein: This goes on my finger about like that, I go to sleep for night and this registers with the couple of sensors. It registers how many apneic I had I had how many times I waked up and what my blood oxygen did during the night. Dr. William Langstaff: Yes, not only that, it'll also measure the sleep, the stages of sleep and how long you are in the stages of sleep that measures the when you hold your breathe the apneic episodes. Mike Wiegenstein: Now, you told me that you found this, because physicians are did, heart studies use this. Dr. William Langstaff: That's the reason, why I purchased this from my practice, because the ambulatory, which is with you can take this home with. The ambulatory sleep study is the only sleep study that used in to study heart condition. Mike Wiegenstein: Okay, doctor so I take this home, I wear it, I sleep in my home bed and I find out and I bring it back to you, you check it out. You find it out that I'm not one of the 5% or 10% is the severe sleep apnea, people have severe sleep apnea, how do you treat it? Dr. William Langstaff: Well, first of all diagnosis the key for any medical condition and this ambulatory sleep machine is what is been used for many heart studies. So because of that this machine is very accurate when determining, what your condition is for sleep apnea. Mike Wiegenstein: Okay, so I come back and I'm not one of the severe, I'm not want that definitely has to have one of these, because there are few. What do you use to treat that the simple? Dr. William Langstaff: There is alternative to CPAP machine, oral appliances has designated by the American academy of sleep medicine. Mike Wiegenstein: I did not know but if you bought few one show me what there. Dr. William Langstaff: Well, first of all there over almost a hundred's oral appliances that have been approved by the FDA for sleep apnea, I brought just a few examples of most recent ones Mike Wiegenstein: Okay, how about this one? Dr. William Langstaff: This one is from Australia, this is the most recent one and this is basically what the appliances do, advances the lower jaw and opens the bite. Mike Wiegenstein: I don't like the first thing you learn at CPRs to move the low jaw forward. Dr. William Langstaff: Exactly. Mike Wiegenstein: It's open the air way out. Dr. William Langstaff: And this does it in the fixed matter yet. It's in two pieces, so the patient doesn't feel like -- Mike Wiegenstein: I would that's better, I'm still able to talk, I'm still able to chew; I mean I still able to basically I don't if can chew, but do most of my functions. Dr. William Langstaff: Yeah, and the most important thing it brings the tongue and it brings the soft tissue forward at night, when you are at sleep and you don't have control over and allows the open air way to occurs so you can breathe. Mike Wiegenstein: Alright, now I know you I just actually know a single piece? Dr. William Langstaff: This is the newest one on the market and what I like about, this is it is only a single piece, and what makes the so effective other than looking just like a normal night guard is that attached to the posterior back part of the appliance is a bar. There are various sizes of bars, but these bars basically hold the tongue forward, so that the tongue has to stay forward that it senses this doesn't make them get, which is amazing, but it holds the tongue forward it can opens way. Mike Wiegenstein: And keeps that tongue from falling back like we saw in the video clip includes in the air way out. Dr. William Langstaff: Absolutely. Mike Wiegenstein: Now, they have values and there are no hundreds of them that are being made. Do you think is continuing education a huge part saying on top of this? Dr. William Langstaff: Absolutely this with everything in medical and dental field things changed all the time. Mike Wiegenstein: Now, any dentist just likes with the nerves and implants in this any dentist can actually treat sleep apnea? Dr. William Langstaff: Absolutely. Mike Wiegenstein: How do you gain with this, how do you let me ask you? I didn't know, I get the appliance, I take it all my way I mean I feel little better, how do I really know that it's working? Dr. William Langstaff: Well, normally another sleep study would be indicated, but sleep studies are very expensive and insurance don't pay for any more than two. So we have a little apparatus that we used in our office called meter very simple and very simple, it looks like this you put your finger in, you put this on your wrist, you push the button, you go to sleep, and wake up in the morning you bring it back to me. I put at the computer and the report comes on it and tells me about you oxygen and it tells me about your pulse. It doesn't diagnose sleep apnea, but it tells me about your pattern of what happens in your body. Mike Wiegenstein: Now, oxygenation seems to be the important thing, you know said to me oxygen's is drug a choice. Dr. William Langstaff: Absolutely. Mike Wiegenstein: And I said because if you don't get enough oxygen while you are sleeping, doctors have a tendency to want to give you medication to make it fill lack of oxygen, which never really makes a lack of oxygen in any better you just start medicating problem, you said that makes that worse. So if I'm able to wear this guard or mouth piece or oral appliance and I come back again, I take the thing that checks the oxygen; I come back to oxygen saturations you made high all during the night is that pretty good indication that getting when I need? Dr. William Langstaff: Absolutely, and let's say for example, it improves slightly, but not very much. But there are different attachments on these appliances is in positions you can place them through hydration. Mike Wiegenstein: So you just continue to find. Dr. William Langstaff: Exactly. Mike Wiegenstein: Why do you think more people, because I know obviously you know I after taking to you I started talking to all my friends, relatives, families everybody seems to have some sort of problem either the wife complaints they snore husband and wives normally sleep in separate bed rooms, all kinds of why do you think people are getting checked? Dr. William Langstaff: It's a one of those kinds of things that are silent people don't know that they have it. The people that do know that they have it know about the CPAP. Mike Wiegenstein: You think that everybody thinks were getting wear one of these. Dr. William Langstaff: They are afraid for one thing, for another thing they may not know that they have or they have it they been diagnosed, but they don't want what are the CPAP or the have it and they have been diagnosed and the ball has been dropped, there is a lots of reasons why people aren't paying attention. Mike Wiegenstein: But the scientific modalities of it have change considerably, it's much simple and out takes care of to treat the diagnoses then it was say 10 to 15 years ago. Dr. William Langstaff: Absolutely, and the fact the dentist are not involved. And this is a wonderful thing, because like I mentioned before we get to see the patients every six months, we can make sure we can check out. Mike Wiegenstein: Then you guys as especially basically just ahead. Dr. William Langstaff: Absolutely Mike Wiegenstein: You don't spend like the rest of the doctors with tired on the rest of body, this is mostly your specialty. Dr. William Langstaff: Absolutely, along with the questions you know are you brushing your teeth under regular base you do inter base are you wearing oral appliances, you're not wearing. Mike Wiegenstein: CPAP's we know have a -- and you said 10% may be 12% usage after a year. Dr. William Langstaff: Something like that. Mike Wiegenstein: Okay, oral appliances are you tell me post 80% to 90% Dr. William Langstaff: Yes. Mike Wiegenstein: So people are much more like that using Dr. William Langstaff: Certainly simpler to wear this than that. Mike Wiegenstein: We're out of time. Before we go I want to ask do you get a lot of personnel. I mean I know you ride bicycles, you're getting ready go on 109 mile race ride pretty soon. I know your commitment you know not everybody will no talking to your but your commitment dedication and focus to what you want is pretty enhanced, so I watched you went to a little bit with bite stuff with you. Do you get personnel satisfaction out of change? Dr. William Langstaff: Absolutely, it's what I, that's why , I do what I do, I love what I do, I love helping people. It's always been a -- it's a pleasure and so pleasure has my practice grows in time and the patients grow in time it's a pleasure keeping people how they. Mike Wiegenstein: Alright, we are out of time, you have we've covered lot today obviously not everything we need to. You have a lot of information on your website and peoples still have questions, they have concerns and they don't know how to turn to, if they call you will you talk to them? Dr. William Langstaff: Well, absolutely. Mike Wiegenstein: Will you personally talk to them? Dr. William Langstaff: My pleasure. Mike Wiegenstein: You've been watching medical news network, I'm Mike Wiegenstein. For future information on this subject or any other please visit our website at medicalnewsnetwork.info. Until next time I wish you good health.