Sleep Apnea Awareness And Medical Coverage

Posted on January 25, 2015 by Dr. Erin Elliott

As I sit here on a plane with my office manager, Brittany, I am once again aware of how much snoring and sleep apnea permeates our society.  We are flying back from training an office in how to screen and treat snoring and sleep apnea in their dental practice.  This time it took us to the great city of Ottawa, Canada.  We meet people on the plane that tell us of their problems with sleep.  Sometimes we don’t even meet them we see them as they doze off and snore.  We meet people in restaurants and cab rides.  I think my next Continuing Education course will be in dream interpretation as people love to open up about their weird dreams.  What struck me the most is that once people are aware of the signs and symptoms of sleep apnea, once people realize that they should wake up refreshed, once people open their eyes to the dangers of untreated sleep apnea, they are all of a sudden willing to pursue diagnosis and treatment.  Every office we train sees light bulbs go off and half the staff gets treated!!  Whether the patient is treated with C-PAP (the gold standard!) or an oral appliance it is a blessing to spread awareness and education.  We are also blessed in the states.  Medical insurance covers sleep tests and oral appliances without much of a wait.  In the Canadian system patients have to pay out of pocket.  It isn’t covered.   Whether you have private medical insurance or Medicare we can help!