Seeing a sleep doctor will help you determine whether or not a home sleep apnea test is a good fit for your specific situation or not.

Your physician will decide which is more appropriate and then your specific test must be approved by the insurance company before you can proceed with a sleep study.

In this article, we will discuss some of the facts to know about how home sleep studies work and how accurate they are.

Convenience

One of the advantages of taking a home sleep apnea test is that you are able to perform the study in your own bed following typical nighttime routines. While you are encouraged to bring a pillow from home for sleep studies performed in a lab it won’t feel like your bedroom!

How Do They Work?

If your doctor suggests a home study, a device is either sent home with the patient or sent through the mail. 

Home sleep apnea tests use sensors like a probe on your finger to measure oxygen, and a mask with tubes similar to an oxygen mask, as well as additional sensors on your midsection and chest. 

An in-lab sleep test will monitor many things but it is important to understand that the home tests will only monitor your breathing rather than also measuring how long you are in a light or deep sleep.

Results

The home test results are sent to your doctor for review. In rare circumstances, your doctor may want you to come in for a study in a sleep lab if the home test results are inconclusive. 

Home tests are not quite as accurate since a physician isn’t there to monitor you if a sensor should become displaced while you are sleeping. There are other sleep disorders besides sleep apnea that an at-home test may not register, but an in-lab test may. It is important to be evaluated by a physician so they can recommend the best test for your specific symptoms.

Some patients will opt to try the at-home test before committing to the cost and procedure involved with an in-lab study since there is a convenience factor as well as generally being lower cost.

If you have completed a sleep study,  been diagnosed with sleep apnea, and you’d like an alternative to CPAP give us a call.

What you put into your body matters more than making sure you are getting the proper nutrition. The foods and drinks you consume also have a big effect on your oral health.

In this article, we are going to cover some of the most detrimental consumables for your teeth.

We all know that too many sweets can be harmful to your oral health, but there are other foods as well that might not be as obvious problem-causers as candy and sugar.

Sticky and Crunchy Foods

Dried fruit is a sticky food that while it might seem like a healthy snack but they stick to your teeth and the natural sugars cause decay.

Crunchy foods such as chips and pretzels can result in chipped or broken teeth. Also, chips have starch in them that can easily get stuck between your teeth. 

Hard Candy

While all sugary treats are hard on your teeth, hard candy exposes teeth to sugar for an extended period of time.

Not only does hard candy expose your teeth to sugar, but the hardness of these sweet treats can also result in a broken tooth.

Citrus

Citrus, while it contains high concentrations of Vitamin C to boost your immune system, it also is very acidic.

Foods with high acid concentrations can actually erode your teeth and limiting them is best for your oral health! Please leave it out of your water as well

Cold Drinks

Any drink with added sugar puts your teeth at risk for decay, just like their candy or confectionary counterparts. If you do drink a soft drink or a sports drink make sure to be drinking water to remove the residual sugar from your teeth.

Ice is meant to keep your drink cold only, chewing ice is very damaging to your tooth’s enamel. Plus it can also break or chip your teeth easily.

Consuming water in liquid form is great – it has no added sugars!

Hot Drinks

While it might not necessarily be specifically coffee affecting your oral health, it is what you are putting in it that is the actual culprit.

Oftentimes people add sugar, or creamers with sugar, to their coffee and tea. Plus, they are both very drying and dry mouth can lead to other problems in your oral health. 

Drink plenty of water in between cups of coffee to keep the negative effects to a minimum and avoid staining.

Choosing Better Options

Try reaching for foods like cheese, chicken, or nuts. Fruits and vegetables like apples and cucumbers are also great choices, they contain a lot of water and increase saliva production to keep your mouth from getting dry.

As the American Dental Association saying goes, snack and sip all day, risk decay

Try to limit snacking and sipping on drinks throughout the day. That will limit your exposure time to decay-causing substances, which feed bacteria constantly throughout the day.