Causes of Snoring and How to Control It

Pacific Dental Care

Is snoring keeping you awake at night? If you or someone you love consistently snores, it can be waking up sleep partners, affecting natural sleep patterns, and increasing your risk of health issues linked to poor quality of sleep. Our Los Angeles sleep apnea expert can help.

Causes of Snoring

The first step in getting your snoring under control is finding the underlying cause as to why you snore. Our team can perform a full physical exam and take down your medical history to identify the symptoms and possible causes. The primary causes of snoring include:

• Excess weight
• Alcohol or sedatives before sleep
• The anatomy of your mouth, throat or sinuses
• Congestion from allergies or colds
• Eating a heavy meal before bed
• Smoke
• Sleeping on your back
• Sleep apnea

When you sleep, the muscles in your body relax, including the muscles in the throat and mouth. This can lead to a narrowing of the airway and a smaller airway will then force the air to move more quickly. As the air passes over the soft tissues of the palate and uvula, they cause the tissues to vibrate. This results in the sound of snoring. In more serious cases, the airway can become completely obstructed. This is a condition known as sleep apnea. Not all snoring is related to sleep apnea, though.

Prevention and Control

If lifestyle factors are causing you to snore, changing your habits may be enough to stop the problem and your symptoms. In rare cases, structural problems may require surgical treatment. The least invasive and most comfortable treatment option for many people is an oral snoring prevention device called Silent Nite. This is a thin and comfortable mouthguard device that works by positioning the lower jaw forward using S-shaped connectors that are attached to the upper and lower trays. Silent Nite stops snoring by increasing the size of the airway, improving breathing and eliminating the vibrations that cause snoring.

Our Los Angeles sleep apnea expert can custom fit the Silent Nite device to ensure more comfortable and effective use. Most of our patients find that the Silent Nite is all that they need to get a better night’s sleep, not just for them, but for their family members, as well. The Silent Nite can improve the quality and quantity of sleep, and can restore healthier sleep patterns. Call us today to learn more about how you can stop snoring or to schedule an appointment with our team.

Read More:

FAQs About Snoring and Sleep Apnea
Sleep Apnea Appliances