The 6th Episode of the Oral FITNESS Bootcamp is about Sleep. You may be asking, what has sleep have to do with dentistry? To get great sleep you need to be able to breathe through your nose and get to the deep-cycle that allows your body to rest, heal and detoxify. The architecture of your mouth plays a major role in achieving this. If your bite has underdeveloped when you were growing up or you have an inflamed airway you will tend to mouth breathe at night. This not only makes you prone to a dry mouth, tooth decay and gum disease but also a challenge to get deep healing sleep. Snoring and risk of obstructive sleep apnoea can be life-threatening.
We are fortunate as dentists to be able to see the signs of sleep disturbance and can often refer you to your GP for a home sleep study to rule out sleep apnoea.
Here are a few tips that may help you reduce your risk of sleep problems.
Avoid dairy altogether or at least after noon. If you have had your tonsils out as a young child it is highly likely you are dairy intolerant. We are often addicted to the foods we have an intolerance for. Dairy creates glandular swelling in the airway so you are more likely to snore or have a disturbed constant waking sleep.
Time your sleep cycles in 90-minute groups. Decide what time you want to wake and work back in multiples of 90-minutes to the time to go to sleep. So if your alarm is on for 6.0am then you need to go to sleep at 9.0pm, 10.30 pm or Midnight. In the 90 minutes, you will go from a shallow and then deep sleep and slowly emerge into shallow before waking. If you get this wrong by 30 minutes your alarm will try to wake you when you are in a deep sleep phase and you will feel like you can not move never mind wake refreshed for the day.. If this is you look at the time you go to sleep.
Avoid stimulants like screens or make sure to wear Blue Blockers in the evening. These glasses have an orange or red colour and block out the stimulating blue light that inhibits your production of melatonin.
Coconut oil pull for 5 mins prior to bed. This will allow your nasal passages and sinus area to clear before sleep. It will also inhibit a dry mouth in the night.
Look into the idea of mouth taping. This requires training via Butekyo online and it is important your nasal passages are healthy. I recommend an ENT assessment if not.
Raise the head of your bed by 6 inches. Cleopatra raised the head of her bed. Maybe she knew you would get a deeper sleep and dream more. If you have 4 legs of the bed this is simple and done with two big old books. Beware if you have 6 legs as it may be too stressful on your bed. By raising your head of the bed your tongue will sit slightly more forward allowing you to nasally breathe better.
Try the anti-snoring juice I wrote about in a blog. Click HERE to get the recipe.
Keep Smiling,
It’s good for You!
Dr David Cowhig, the founder of the Dental Wellness clinics, is a pioneer in holistic metal free dentistry & aesthetics, providing scientific-based biological dentistry. We support you as an individual and take into account the variety of factors that can lead to dental and oral health problems. We believe passionately that creating health and beauty around us is an integral part of life and you will feel these qualities in our dental care. You can find us at The Gap in Brisbane, focussing on holistic aesthetic total metal-free dentistry.
Contact Dental Wellness on 07 3511 1399 or email [email protected].