This is a case in which our patient is going to wear a sleep appliance, approved by their sleep MD. However, it is just not enough to stop the snoring at night. As you can see in this picture, the tongue is large and the palate is quite low. This means that the uvula will vibrate at night and this person will snore more than they should to maintain good health. Snoring is dangerous because it makes the carotid artery vibrate and the damage from the vibration causes plaque to build up on the damaged artery. If a plaque dislodges, it could go to the heart and that would not be a good thing for your longevity.
Laser therapy has been around for a very long time. It is well documented in the literature to reduce inflammation and alleviate pain while helping to regenerate damaged tissue. Our office has used laser therapy for many years now and patients report great results and comfort after their therapy visits. More recently, the laser is being used to help people with enlarged tongues and ‘droopy’ palates.
The way the laser works is actually quite simple, but let’s go through the alternative treatment first. In the old days, we would actually refer the patient to the ENT surgeon to perform a UPPP (Uvulo Palatal Pharyngeo Plasty) surgery that entails cutting the palate to make it go higher up- thus opening the airway a bit better. The only problem is that the palate might drop back a bit over the next year or two. This of course, surgery on the throat is quite painful. So, after a year or two, if the palate drops back down again, then more surgery might be needed, and that is not a fun thing.
As it turns out, the use of the laser to help shrink the tongue and to lift the palate creates a better path for those patients with no down time. In these pictures you can clearly see what the throat area looked like before and then after the laser treatment. There is no need for anesthesia. The procedure is pretty much painless. The concept with the laser is actually quite simple. When used on the tongue, the laser heats up just enough to melt the fat tissue in your tongue then the body just excretes it naturally. On the palate, it tightens up collage and elastin to ‘lift’ the palate, thus opening the airway more. These pictures are only the very first visit of five sessions. The follow-up on this patient was good- he reported better sleep on the very first night, and keep in mind this is only the first of five sessions.
The beauty of the laser therapy is that you can literally walk out our door after each session and have a hot coffee on your way to work. You are not numb and there is no pain. This makes for a really nice visit, doesn’t it? The treatment course for our patients is within the first year we will do five sessions to get a nice result. Since no one really exercises their tongue, the fat deposits will likely build up again and either next year or the year after,  the treatment may  need to be completed again to revise and do a little more with the laser. This could be maybe three sessions or so. But considering the surgical approach, needing surgical revision every other year, our revision is much easier and less expensive. A non-surgical approach is always a better way to go.
If you are snoring and/or have sleep apnea, be sure to look at the option of using laser therapy to help reduce the enlarged tongue and to open the palate more. It just makes so much more sense than a surgical approach.
Contact Sleep & TMJ Therapy today at 703-821-1103 to find out more laser treatments for sleep apnea and snoring in Falls Church, Virginia, and make your appointment with our skilled dentist, Dr. Jeffrey Brown!