Sleep apnoea is a serious condition that affects more than just your sleep. It can impact your energy levels, brain function, heart health, and even your lifespan. But the good news is, CPAP isn’t your only option.
At VIP Dental Clinic, we offer combination therapy using NightLase (a gentle laser treatment) and the MAS Dorsal and NOA appliances (custom mouthpieces), suitable for people who can’t tolerate CPAP. While not a complete replacement in every case, this approach can significantly reduce your symptoms and improve your quality of life.
Sleep apnoea fast facts
What is sleep apnoea?
Sleep apnoea is a common but serious condition where your breathing repeatedly stops and starts while you sleep. In most cases, the airway becomes blocked (either partially or fully) which interrupts your breathing and lowers the amount of oxygen in your blood.
These pauses in breathing can happen dozens or even hundreds of times per night, often without you realising it. You might wake up feeling tired, foggy, or like you haven’t slept at all, even if you were in bed for eight hours.
Left untreated, sleep apnoea can increase your risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and even take years off your life. That’s why early diagnosis and effective treatment are so important.
What are the symptoms of sleep apnoea?
The list of possible sleep apnoea symptoms is long. But here are a few common signs to look out for:
- Loud snoring
- Gasping or choking during sleep
- Pauses in breathing while sleeping
- Morning headaches
- Daytime sleepiness
- Trouble concentrating
- Irritability or mood changes
How do you get diagnosed with sleep apnoea?
The only way to know for certain if you have sleep apnoea, is to undergo a sleep study. This can be done either in a sleep clinic or from the comfort of your home with a take-home sleep apnoea test.
During the study, sensors track things like:
- Your breathing patterns
- Blood oxygen levels
- Heart rate
- Snoring
- Body movements during sleep
A sleep physician will then analyse the results and determine whether you have sleep apnoea, how severe it is, and what type of treatment might be the most effective.
What is CPAP for sleep apnoea?
CPAP stands for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, and it’s the most commonly prescribed treatment for sleep apnoea. The machine works by delivering a steady stream of air through a mask that you wear while you sleep. This airflow gently keeps your airway open, preventing it from collapsing and stopping your breathing during the night.
When used properly, CPAP can dramatically reduce the number of apnoea events you experience each night. It helps you get more restful, uninterrupted sleep and can improve your energy levels, focus, and mood during the day. Over time, it also lowers your risk of serious health problems like heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure.
Why CPAP alone isn’t always the answer
There’s no doubt that CPAP works. For many people with moderate to severe sleep apnoea, it can be life-changing. But that only happens if it’s used consistently; and for a large number of people, that’s simply not possible.
Wearing a mask every night, staying connected to a machine, and dealing with the sound, straps, and feeling of forced air can make it difficult to stick with CPAP long-term. Some patients feel claustrophobic or uncomfortable. Others find it interferes with their sleep even more than the apnoea did. And over time, many stop using it altogether.
This isn’t about giving up. It’s about recognising that treatment should be realistic, sustainable, and tailored to your lifestyle. If CPAP just isn’t something you can manage, it doesn’t mean you should go without treatment entirely. There are other ways to reduce the impact of sleep apnoea, improve your sleep quality, and protect your long-term health.
At VIP Dental Clinic, we often see patients who’ve struggled with CPAP and are looking for a gentler, more manageable solution, and that’s where combination therapy comes in.
Comfortable sleep apnoea treatment options
At VIP Dental Clinic, we offer a combination approach. By using gentle laser therapy and advanced oral appliances, we can help you to reduce your symptoms and improve your sleep, without the bulk or discomfort of a machine.
NightLase is a non-invasive laser treatment that gently heats the soft tissues at the back of the throat, tightening them over time to keep the airway more open during sleep. It’s quick, painless, and doesn’t involve any surgery or downtime, just a series of short appointments over several weeks.
For added support, we may recommend an oral appliance that’s custom-fitted to your mouth. The MAS Dorsal and NOA appliances are two types of mandibular advancement splints that hold your lower jaw slightly forward during sleep, helping to prevent the airway from collapsing.
Together, these treatments can make a noticeable difference, especially for people with mild to moderate sleep apnoea, or those who can’t tolerate CPAP. While they may not be a full replacement for CPAP in severe cases, they offer a much more comfortable, low-impact alternative that still supports better breathing, sleep, and long-term health.
Sleep apnoea treatment: Why something is better than nothing
Despite popular belief, untreated sleep apnoea doesn’t just make you tired. It puts serious strain on your body and brain, night after night. Over time, the impact adds up in ways that aren’t always obvious until they become severe.
When your brain and body aren’t getting enough oxygen while you sleep, it can lead to a constant feeling of fatigue, difficulties with concentration, memory issues, mood swings, and brain fog. Many people report waking up with headaches or feeling just as exhausted in the morning as they were the night before.
But the effects go far beyond that. Untreated sleep apnoea has been linked to high blood pressure, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and even a reduced lifespan — in some cases by as much as 10 years! It also affects your metabolism, immune function, and can contribute to weight gain and hormonal imbalances.
That’s why doing something to address your sleep apnoea, even if it’s not CPAP, is better than doing nothing at all. Treatments like NightLase, the MAS Dorsal appliance and the NOA appliance may not be perfect for everyone, but they can offer real, impactful relief. Even a partial improvement in your symptoms can mean better sleep, more energy, sharper thinking, and reduced health risks.
What to do next: Exploring your options
At VIP Dental Clinic, we’re here to help you explore your treatment options for sleep apnea in Sydney and Miranda. Whether you’ve been formally diagnosed, or you’re just starting to suspect that sleep apnoea might be affecting your health, we can walk you through the next steps.
Our team offers consultations where we take the time to understand your symptoms, talk through your concerns, and explain the different treatment options available, including NightLase, the MAS Dorsal appliance, and the NOA appliance. There’s no pressure, and no one-size-fits-all approach; just real, health-focused solutions tailored to your comfort, lifestyle, and health goals.