Silver Spring Sleep Dentist

Health insurance usually covers treatment for apnea and other sleep disorders

The diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders have come a long way in recent years. In the past, people who snored might be advised to sew a tennis ball onto the back of their pajama top. The “snore ball” would discourage them from sleeping on their back and might quiet their droning. Or a doctor might use the “dog index” to measure poor sleep: If your dog generally sleeps with you but by morning has left the bed more than half the time, it may be because you’re such a loud, restless sleeper that the dog has gone elsewhere for some peace and quiet.

Now, doctors with special training diagnose and treat more than 80 sleep disorders — from obstructive sleep apnea to narcolepsy — at special centers with labs where a patient’s every sleeping moment may be recorded and measured.

Insurance usually covers the diagnosis and treatment of sleep problems, with some exceptions. For example, snoring on its own is not a medical problem and insurance won’t cover its treatment, to the great disappointment of many a snorer’s bed partner.

Obstructive sleep apnea, which occurs in at least 2 to 4 percent of Americans, is another matter entirely. The consequences of untreated sleep apnea can be extremely serious.

Sleep apnea is an obstruction of your airway that’s created when the muscles at the back of your throat relax during sleep. The obstruction partially or completely stops your breathing, sometimes for a minute or longer, until your brain alerts your body to wake up and you start to breathe again. This can lead to fragmented, poor sleep as well as reduced oxygen levels, which can worsen such medical conditions as high blood pressure and diabetes and increase your risk of heart attack and stroke.

As awareness of the problem has increased, so has demand for testing and treatment. Patients with suspected sleep apnea are typically sent to sleep centers, where they are evaluated overnight while they sleep. In the past 10 years, the number of accredited sleep centers has grown from 566 to 2,258, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Snoring is a common symptom of sleep apnea, but some experts say sleep studies may be overprescribed. “Everybody who snores doesn’t need a sleep test,” says Fred Holt, an ear, nose and throat surgeon in Raleigh, N.C., and an expert on sleep apnea who consults on anti-fraud issues for lawyers, medical auditors and investigators. The risk of developing sleep apnea is higher in people who are overweight, male, middle-aged or older, or smokers.

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Dr. Melnick provides cosmetic dentistry procedures in Laurel, Maryland. The information provided on this site is for informational purposes only and should not be used to replace the advice of a professional. Our office serves patients from the areas of Columbia, Fulton, Silver Spring and Laurel, Maryland.

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