Snoring is possibly a serious problem in your house. The sound can keep people awake all night, and that can lead to resentment and even fights during the day. The snorer might seem like they’re sleeping peacefully, but snoring is a sound that they are struggling to breathe. Snoring treatment can protect not just the happiness but the health of your home.

At Excellence in Dentistry, our Anchorage sleep dentists offer multiple snoring treatments. One of the best is NightLase. Nightlase is a highly effective laser snoring solution. There’s no mask and no oral appliance, just a few simple treatments, and you could be free from snoring for a year or more. 

What Causes Snoring?

Snoring is a common issue that affects many individuals during sleep, but what causes this noisy nuisance? Understanding the mechanics behind snoring is crucial for recognizing the importance of seeking treatment, not only for the sake of a good night’s sleep but also for overall health. Here’s a simplified explanation:

  • Airflow Restriction: Snoring occurs when airflow through the mouth and nose is partially obstructed during sleep. This can be due to various reasons, such as the anatomy of your mouth, sinus issues, or even your sleep position.
  • Vibration of Tissues: As air struggles to pass through these narrow passages, it causes the surrounding tissues, particularly in the throat and soft palate, to vibrate. This vibration produces the familiar snoring sound.
  • Common Contributing Factors: Several factors can contribute to the likelihood of snoring, including obesity, age, lifestyle choices (such as smoking and alcohol consumption), and sleep posture. Also, conditions like sleep apnea can lead to snoring, so medical consultation is often recommended for chronic snorers.
  • Why It Matters: While snoring might seem like a mere annoyance, it can be a sign of obstructed breathing. If left unchecked, it can lead to more serious health issues, including sleep apnea, daytime fatigue, heart strain, and even relationship stress.

How NightLase Works

Snoring occurs when turbulent air passing through the airway causes vibrations in your tissue. These vibrations are the sound we hear as snoring. Snoring can occur anywhere along your airway, but one of the most common places for loud snoring vibrations is your soft palate. The palate is the roof of your mouth, and the soft palate is the part at the back of your mouth. It’s floppy and prone to vibration. NightLase works by firming and shrinking the soft palate. This makes your airway more open, so there’s less turbulence. Plus, firming the soft palate makes it less prone to vibration.

In the NightLase procedure, our Anchorage sleep dentist will use our LightWalker laser to gently heat your soft palate. This will cause minor, controlled injury to your palate. The injury is so mild that most people say it doesn’t hurt. As this injury heals, it will firm your soft palate and shrink it as well. 

NightLase doesn’t work immediately. It takes at least three treatments a month apart. Each treatment only takes about 20 minutes, so with just an hour’s treatment, you can reduce or eliminate your snoring for a year or more. It’s easy to fit these treatments into your day. You can go right back to work after treatment. Because the NightLase treatments are nearly painless, you don’t need anesthesia. This means you won’t need anyone to drive you to and from your appointments. Nor will you have numb lips or cheeks interfering with your ability to work. 

You’ll notice the benefits of NightLase quickly. Many people report a reduction in snoring on the night of their first treatment. This reduction will increase over the first month, followed by even more improvement after each follow-up treatment. 

Results can last for a year or more after your last treatment. 

Are You a Candidate for NightLase?

NightLase is a highly effective snoring treatment (more on this in a minute), but it’s not for everyone. To decide if it’s for you, we have to know two things: do you have sleep apnea, and what is the source of your snoring?

Before we recommend NightLase, we will recommend a sleep study. Sleep apnea is a potentially deadly condition that needs treatment–and NightLase doesn’t treat it. Snoring is commonly associated with sleep apnea, and the louder your snoring, the more likely you are to have sleep apnea. If you are seeking treatment for loud snoring, we recommend a sleep test first. We can coordinate that for you, and you can likely take your sleep test in the comfort of your own bed. Insurance might even cover the cost of the test.

If you don’t have sleep apnea, we want to make sure your snoring will respond to NightLase. There are many tissues that could vibrate to cause snoring. It could be in your nose or your throat. It could be related to your tongue. NightLase won’t treat any of those sources of snoring. It only helps snoring related to the soft palate. Your Anchorage sleep dentist will determine the source of your snoring before recommending NightLase. 

How Effective Is NightLase?

One of the great things about NightLase is that it’s a highly successful snoring treatment. You don’t have to take our word for it: it’s documented scientifically. 

One of the earliest small studies on NightLase featured just ten patients. These ten patients saw an average of 85% reduction in snoring after three treatments. Not only that, but their results were stable for up to three years. 

In a later study, using a population of 33 patients, only 65% of patients said they were happy with the results. Older patients had a higher satisfaction rate. 

A 2019 study looked at results from 40 consecutive patients. Among these patients, 85% said they were very satisfied with their results. Perhaps more remarkable, the study showed that 72% of patients had stable results for up to 24 months after treatment. 

But the best evidence of NightLase’s effectiveness is that in a 2020 systematic review, 80% of patients were satisfied with their results. 

Get Snoring Treatment in Anchorage

Are you tired of snoring? Whether it’s your snoring or someone else’s that’s keeping you awake, the Anchorage sleep dentists at Excellence in Dentistry can determine if you’re a candidate for NightLase. 

NightLase is just one of the amazing laser dentistry procedures that we offer. With the same laser, in fact, we also offer LipLase and EyeLase. LipLase helps you get plumper lips with no need for injectables. EyeLase can firm the eye region, reducing the appearance of wrinkles, sagging, and discoloration. 

Want to learn more about the benefits of Laser dentistry in Anchorage? Please call (907) 349-0022 or use our online form today to request an appointment at Excellence in Dentistry.