Hi gys. A quick story to share. Jordan, I know you have Sleep Apnea and I believe Austin stated he has it as well. I took the “STOP BANG” questionnaire after your recommendation from attending your seminar this year is Fort Collins, CO. I didn’t score high enough based on my answers to seek follow up with my GP. I used to snore but once I had my tonsils removed and turbinate reduction performed about six years ago that has improved that.
During a recent visit to my dentist for a routine cleaning he noticed “tori bumps” on my lower jaw bone, indicative of grinding your teeth at night. He mentioned they are now finding this grinding is related to Obstructive Sleep Apnea. He recommended a take home sleep study, which I did. Follow up results showed I had mild to moderate obstructive apnea with around 8 “events” per hour. He recommended fitting a mouth guard that positions your lower jaw in the ideal position and an added benefit of reducing the grinding at night (I have quite a few flat spots at this point). Once I have the appliance they perform a follow up sleep study to ensure there is an improvement. I’m excited and expect my sleep should improve. Being a father of 2 young boys I figured being “always tired” (shout out to Post Malone!) was part of the job! 
The question I have related to all this: my Dentist said there is some emerging data showing some potential relation to sleep apnea and dementia later in life due to the interruption in quality REM cycle sleep. Curious if either of you have found any evidence in the literature related to this? Thanks in advance.
The question I have related to all this: my Dentist said there is some emerging data showing some potential relation to sleep apnea and dementia later in life due to the interruption in quality REM cycle sleep. Curious if either of you have found any evidence in the literature related to this? Thanks in advance.
We aren’t aware of anything outside of correlational data here (i.e., nothing clearly causative that has been demonstrated).
Thank you. That’s reassuring. I need to have a talk with my dentist about nocebo-ing people they might get dimentia:roll_eyes:. Nonetheless, they do a follow up take home sleep test after I get the mouth guard to see if there is an improvement. I’m excited to potentially get some more restorative sleep.
I would speculate that the association with dementia has more to do with frequent if transient low O2 overnight, which you probably don’t have with mild OSA.
either way, the apnea is worth treating for multiple reasons.