Sleep Apnea
Did You Have Teeth Extracted When You Had Braces?
Several dentists, a world-renowned orthodontist and a sleep scientist have all told me that the tooth extractions and retractive orthodontic work I had done at age 13 is the likely cause of my underdeveloped jaws and resulting obstructive sleep apnea. It has left inadequate space in my mouth for my tongue which has nowhere to go during sleep but backwards, blocking my airway. I now believe this is what has devastated my health, caused my chronic fatigue and profoundly impacted my life over the last 12 years, and perhaps even longer.
However, the connection between orthodontic extractions and obstructive sleep apnea is apparently controversial amongst orthodontists. I had no idea that I had sleep apnea until it was diagnosed a couple of years ago after a polysomnograph that my sleep specialist almost didn’t recommend given my lack of recognised risk factors. It seems that sleep specialists are also unaware that orthodontic extractions are a risk factor for obstructive sleep apnea.