Level 17, 111 Elizabeth Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Level 17, 111 Elizabeth Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Airway & Sleep · Frequently Asked Questions
Every question below is one patients actually ask us, answered directly and in plain language, with links to the full pages where the detail lives. This page carries FAQPage schema and is grouped in four sets: understanding the problem, diagnosis and referral, treatment, and children.
What is the difference between snoring and sleep apnoea?
Snoring is noise from a narrowed airway; apnoea is that airway repeatedly closing, with breathing pauses of ten seconds or more. Snorers do not all have apnoea, but most people with obstructive sleep apnoea snore, which is why snoring earns screening rather than dismissal.
Why is a dentist involved in sleep at all?
Because the jaw and tongue shape the airway, because dentists see the physical evidence of grinding and mouth breathing before anyone else, and because a custom oral appliance, one of the main treatments for snoring and mild to moderate OSA, is fitted and managed by a dentist.
Does everyone who grinds their teeth have a sleep problem?
No, and the association runs strong enough the other way that we screen every significant grinder for sleep-disordered breathing. Stress and bite factors are also real drivers; the assessment sorts out which story is yours.
I sleep eight hours but wake tired. How?
Duration is not quality. Fragmented sleep from a narrowing airway can rouse you dozens of times a night without your knowledge; the hours accumulate, the restoration never does. That pattern is precisely what screening is for.
Is waking at night to use the bathroom really a sleep sign?
Frequently, yes. Disturbed breathing triggers hormonal changes that increase night-time urine production, so recurrent bathroom trips can be an airway clue, not just a bladder one.
Can SHDC diagnose sleep apnoea?
No dentist can. Diagnosis requires a sleep study interpreted by a sleep physician. We screen, refer, and treat with appliances under that diagnosis, which is how the pathway is meant to work.
What does a sleep study involve?
Overnight monitoring of breathing, oxygen and sleep stages, at home or in a laboratory depending on the physician's judgement. Your GP or our referral starts the process; Medicare arrangements are handled through the physician's practice.
I already have a CPAP machine. Why see a dentist?
Two common reasons: appliance therapy as a physician-agreed alternative when CPAP is not being tolerated, and management of the grinding, dry mouth or jaw symptoms that can travel with treated OSA. Bring your study results; they save time.
What should I bring to an airway assessment?
Any sleep study reports, your partner's observations (genuinely valuable evidence), sleep tracker data if you use one, and your medication list.
Are oral appliances uncomfortable?
Custom appliances are slim and tooth-borne, and most patients adapt within one to two weeks. The boil-and-bite pharmacy versions are a different, bulkier experience and are the usual source of the discomfort reputation.
How long does an appliance last?
Typically several years with proper care and review; grinding load and material determine the exact lifespan, and your regular visits track it.
Can an appliance cure sleep apnoea?
Treat, not cure: it manages the airway while worn, nightly, indefinitely, like glasses manage eyesight. Weight change, ENT treatment or other factors can shift the underlying picture over time, which is why review continues.
Do I still need my splint if I get a sleep appliance?
Usually the sleep appliance takes over night duty, and some designs manage both jobs. Which appliance, or combination, is a design decision made from your diagnosis.
What does treatment cost?
Assessment, appliance and follow-up are quoted in writing before you commit, with health-fund item numbers supplied. Ranges will be published on the fees page.
Is snoring normal in children?
Common and worth assessing are different things. Regular snoring in a child deserves an airway assessment; the possible growth, sleep and behaviour costs of missing it outweigh the cost of a gentle check.
What is the treatment for a mouth-breathing child?
Find the cause first: a truly blocked nose belongs with an ENT. Where habit leads, breathing retraining plus myofunctional therapy, often with a Myobrace appliance, guides both habit and growth. See Mouth Breathing in Children.
At what age can children be assessed?
From about age three, as part of ordinary dental visits. Growth guidance has its best window before the teenage years, so early questions beat late ones.
An airway assessment at SHDC starts with a conversation, not a commitment. Bring your questions and any sleep study results you have.
Yin Yin image
Dr Yin Yin Teoh
Dentist — Airway & Sleep Focus, Sydney Holistic Dental Centre
Dr Yin Yin Teoh leads the airway and sleep programme at Sydney Holistic Dental Centre. She screens, refers and manages oral appliance therapy for patients with sleep-disordered breathing, working alongside sleep physicians and ENT specialists.
