Level 17, 111 Elizabeth Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Level 17, 111 Elizabeth Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Holistic Treatment · Airway-Focused Dentistry
Dentists see the evidence of poor sleep before almost anyone else: worn and cracked teeth from night-time grinding, morning headaches, a scalloped tongue, crowded teeth in a mouth-breathing child. At Sydney Holistic Dental Centre, airway and sleep assessment is built into every comprehensive consultation, and our dedicated sleep and airway care covers snoring, obstructive sleep apnoea (in partnership with sleep physicians), children's mouth breathing, myofunctional therapy and dental-origin headaches. This work is led by Dr Yin Yin Teoh, whose postgraduate training includes the Olmos residency in TMJ and sleep disorders.
Patient and Dentist Consultation
A consistently good night's sleep is the foundation every other health measure stands on, and breathing well while you sleep is what makes sleep restorative. When the airway narrows at night, the body defends itself: it stirs, it shifts, and very often it pushes the lower jaw forward and grinds. Much of the tooth wear, cracking and morning-headache pattern we see in the chair is the visible signature of a night-time breathing struggle, which is why treating the tooth without asking about the night misses the point.
Three questions begin our screening, and they are worth asking yourself now:
1
Do you wake feeling refreshed?
2
Do you wake during the night, including to go to the bathroom?
3
Has anyone commented on your snoring or breathing during sleep?
Snoring is the sound of air forcing its way through a narrowed airway, usually as the tongue and soft tissues relax back during sleep. It is extremely common, and it is never meaningless: at minimum it degrades the sleep of two people, and at worst it marks the mild end of a spectrum that runs through sleep-disordered breathing to obstructive sleep apnoea. The snoring page covers causes and the treatment pathway, including custom mandibular advancement appliances.
Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is repeated narrowing (hypopnoea) or blockage (apnoea) of the airway during sleep, each event lasting ten seconds or more, fragmenting sleep and straining the cardiovascular system. Poor sleep of this kind is associated in the published literature with high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, weight gain, memory and mood problems and daytime accident risk.
Diagnosis belongs with medicine, not dentistry: if screening raises concern, we refer you to a sleep physician for a sleep study. Where the diagnosis supports it, a custom-made oral appliance that holds the lower jaw gently forward during sleep is an effective, well-tolerated option for many patients with snoring and mild to moderate OSA, and CPAP remains the gold standard for severe cases. We fit and manage the appliance; the physician manages the diagnosis. You get both disciplines, working together.
"I look at the person attached to the teeth, and nowhere does that matter more than sleep. When a patient tells me they wake refreshed for the first time in years, the worn teeth that brought them in have led somewhere far more important than a filling."
DR YIN YIN TEOH — PRINCIPAL DENTIST
Image of Yin Yin
A child who breathes through an open mouth, snores, sleeps restlessly, wets the bed beyond the usual age or struggles with attention during the day may be working too hard to breathe at night. Habitual mouth breathing also shapes growth: the tongue, which normally rests on the palate and acts as nature's own orthodontic appliance, drops to the floor of the mouth, and the upper jaw can develop narrow and crowded. Early assessment is the point: guiding growth is far easier than correcting it later. Our Mouth Breathing in Children and Kids Airway Assessment pages cover the signs, and myofunctional therapy with Myobrace appliances addresses habits at the root.
Night-time clenching and grinding (bruxism) is strongly associated with sleep-disordered breathing, and morning headaches and neck pain are frequently its footprint. Splint therapy protects the teeth and calms the muscles, and in the right cases a mandibular advancement design manages the airway at the same time. The full picture, including our splint options, lives on the Headaches & Jaw Pain page and the TMJ & Bruxism service page.
Part of what makes dental sleep screening powerful is that the evidence is physical and sitting in front of us. Alongside your answers to the screening questions, we look for:
1
Wear facets
Flattened, polished surfaces where teeth have been grinding against each other at night.
2
Cracks and craze lines
In teeth and restorations beyond what bite forces alone explain.
3
A scalloped tongue
Imprinted by pressing against the teeth, and tongue posture at rest.
4
A high, narrow palate
And crowded arches, the architecture of a smaller airway.
5
Redness and inflammation
At the back of the throat, enlarged tonsils in children, and the visible airway grade.
6
Dry mouth signs
Gum inflammation out of proportion to plaque, and morning muscle tenderness in the jaw and temples.
None of these findings is a diagnosis. Together they are a pattern, and the pattern tells us whether the airway conversation, and possibly a physician referral, belongs in your plan.
Step by step
1. Screen
Airway, breathing and sleep screening inside the comprehensive consultation, or a dedicated sleep-focused visit if that is why you came.
2. Refer where indicated
If the pattern raises concern, referral to a sleep physician for a diagnostic sleep study. Existing results skip this step.
3. Plan together
Physician diagnosis plus dental findings produce the plan: appliance therapy, CPAP support, breathing retraining, myofunctional therapy, splint therapy, or combinations.
4. Fit and calibrate
Custom appliances are fitted, adjusted and titrated over follow-up visits; comfort and compliance are managed actively, not assumed.
5. Verify
Outcomes are checked objectively where appropriate (follow-up studies via the physician) and subjectively: how you wake, how you feel, what your partner reports.
6. Maintain
Appliances are reviewed at your regular visits; children in growth guidance are monitored as they develop.
Every comprehensive new patient consultation includes the airway, breathing and sleep screening, so for most patients the answer is simply: start there. If sleep is your primary concern, say so when you book and we will structure the visit around it. Existing sleep study results are gold; bring them.
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Can a dentist treat sleep apnoea?
A dentist fits and manages oral appliances; diagnosis and overall management belong with a sleep physician. We screen, refer for sleep studies, and co-manage appliance therapy with the physician, which is how the guidelines intend it to work.
Are oral appliances as good as CPAP?
CPAP is the gold standard, particularly for severe OSA. For snoring and mild to moderate OSA, published guidance supports custom oral appliances as an effective option, and the appliance a patient actually wears every night beats the machine left in the cupboard. The right answer is individual and made with your physician.
Why do I grind my teeth?
Grinding has several drivers: sleep-disordered breathing is a major one, alongside stress and bite factors. Because the causes differ, so do the treatments, which is why we assess the airway before prescribing a splint rather than after one fails.
My child snores. Is that normal?
Regular snoring in a child is common and worth assessing, and we would rather see ten children whose snoring proves harmless than miss one whose airway is shaping their growth, sleep and daytime behaviour.
Do you do sleep studies?
No. Sleep studies are performed and interpreted by sleep physicians and accredited laboratories; we refer you and then work from the results.
Book a comprehensive new patient consultation and we will include the full airway, breathing and sleep screening as part of your visit.
BOOK A CONSULTATIONYin Yin image
Dr Yin Yin Teoh
Principal Dentist — Sydney Holistic Dental Centre
Dr Yin Yin Teoh leads the airway and sleep programme at SHDC. Her postgraduate training includes the Olmos residency in TMJ and sleep disorders, and she works in close collaboration with sleep physicians across Sydney.
