To be clinically diagnosed with sleep apnea, you must stop breathing at least 10 seconds per apneic event with at least five apneic events per hour of sleep. There are usually changes in brain waves and blood oxygen levels as well. Apneic events are measured using polysomnography or portable home monitoring equipment provided by your doctor. Your doctor may examine your head and neck and ask you to fill out a questionnaire about your sleep quality and habits. A polysomnogram measures your brain waves, eye movement, muscle activity, heart rate and rhythm, and changes in your blood oxygen levels during sleep. An oropharyngeal meter may be used to measure the back of your tongue and throat size to determine your likelihood of developing breathing difficulties. An acoustic rhinometer may be used to measure your nasal passages to detect obstruction or congestion issues.
While sleep apnea used to require overnight stays at a sleep center for diagnosis, there is a home sleep test you can request from our dentist office. We’ll ask you to wear a small sleep apnea device at night, which will collect data that Dr. Cavendish then sends to a neurologist for proper evaluation and diagnosis. If this is something that interests you, please contact our office for more details.