Ep112: Dental Sleep Medicine: How Your Dentist Can Help You Deal With Your Sleep Problems - With Dr. Bray

OVERVIEW

People who are experiencing sleep disorders normally go to a sleep doctor for consultation hoping that they can help them cure these health issues. But did you know that dentist can also help you fix your bedtime problems? Yes. Aside from fixing your broken tooth and providing you with a perfect smile dentist can also give a helping hand in detecting if you are experiencing a sleep disorder like obstructive sleep apnea.

For this week’s episode, I am so honored to have on the show, Dr. Stephen Bray. After spending about 20 years in General Practice he went back to school and pursued his passion training in Sleep medicine and Chronic Facial pain. He’s now worked in this field for over 20 years in the UK, US, and Canada. He’s spent time at various Hospitals, Sleep Clinics and Universities including Mass General, Tufts and Harvard. He is passionate about increasing the awareness of these areas, their impact and management throughout the Dental profession and the public at large.

He believes that having experienced Snoring, Obstructive Sleep Apnea and TMD pain himself, along with suffering PTSD due to airway loss in an accident, makes his understanding and appreciating the problem easier in some respects. He’s also trained in Behavioural Sleep Medicine, which is how I met him.

In this interview, he will share with us how a dentist can help you in detecting whether you are suffering from a sleep disorder like obstructive sleep apnea. Dr. Bray will also discuss other factors that can fragment sleep. Tune in as we dig deeper into the world of dental sleep medicine.

WHAT WILL WE LEARN

01:10 Who is Dr. Stephen Bray
01:57 What is the role of a dentist in the field of sleep medicine
04:20 What is bruxism and how it is connected with obstructive sleep apnea
10:01 Who can be affected by Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome
12:25 What makes Dr. Bray interested in sleep medicine
16:06 How a kid can be affected by airway or breathing problems
19:30 What are the other factors that can fragment sleep aside from obstructive sleep apnea
21:51 What dentist can do to help people with sleep disorders
25:11 Other alternative treatments for obstructive sleep apnea
30:29 The consequences people might encounter if they overlook the symptoms of sleep apnea and other sleep disorders
36:25 How to reach Dr. Bray and his services