

Dental Sleep Medicine
To all of my family of patients here at Eldorado Dental,
The American Dental Association has asked all dentists to screen their patients for sleep apnea and sleep related breathing disorders.
As you know, we are committed to you. You and your health are at the core of what we do. I wanted to personally let you know that I have been relentlessly studying up on a new treatment that is relatively new to medicine and dentistry.
To serve you better, we are adding dental sleep medicine to the wide array of services we offer beginning immediately!
Because sleep and breathing disorders have become such a widespread and severe problem that’s associated with health problems like heart disease, sudden death, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, cancer, anxiety, and depression, the American Dental Association has asked all dentists to begin screening all of their patients for sleep apnea and sleep-related breathing disorders.
We are excited to focus on helping people who suffer from sleep apnea, sleep-related breathing disorders, and snoring. Dentists like myself are uniquely qualified to help their patients because we understand how to create devices for the oral cavity that can help treat the conditions listed above.
Unlike CPAP, Inspire, and other mandibular advancement devices that act like bandages for sleep apnea, this oral appliance therapy creates a permanent change in the size of your jaw, oral cavity, and airway.
The appliance is similar in appearance to an orthodontic palatal expander but behaves much differently. Oral appliance therapy will encourage your airway and upper and lower jaws to enlarge toward your genetic potential. Your teeth will move with the bone, likely giving you a much broader smile; This works even if you have bridges or dental implants. A larger airway, oral cavity, and jaws can help alleviate and possibly eliminate symptoms of sleep apnea and sleep-related breathing disorders.
Oral appliance therapy is for both children and adults. The earlier we can involve children, the better. Early treatment will make it less likely they will need braces or orthodontics when they get older.
I love practicing dentistry and will continue to do so for many years to come, but I also love helping people get better sleep (and preventing children from ever developing the problems associated with bad sleep).
Again, your health is at the core of what we do here at Eldorado Dental, and we are excited to add Dental Sleep Medicine to the wide array of services we offer, beginning immediately! Contact us today for your FREE consultation.
Sincerely,
Dr. Haley Ritchey