Melville Dentist Brings Care Into The Bedroom

Dr. Barry Chase, is taking his Melville dental practice past the dentist’s chair and into a place a little more private – the bedroom. 

For many patients of Chase, whose practice has a special focus on sleep quality, the bedroom is a place they don’t spend much time in. Not by choice, but because they’ve been booted from the boudoir due to their heavy snoring. 

Chase’s interest in sleep care stems from watching the toll, both physical and mental, a sleep-breathing disorder had on his father.

“My dad snored all his life, he never made it through a whole movie and my mom always slept on the couch because of his snoring,” he said. Eventually, Chase’s father suffered a heart attack, an outcome six times more likely among people with sleep apnea, than those without, due to the lack of oxygen the brain and heart receive during sleep.

It was that experience, which led Chase to focus on two aspects of his dental career: quality of life and continuous positive airway pressure, known as CPAP in the medical world.

Until recently, the only solution for those with sleep apnea was a CPAP machine, which pumps an ongoing flow of air into the lungs at night to prevent airways from collapsing. While highly effective, the machine is also large, noisy and forces a person to sleep in one position. Adding additional discomfort in the bedroom is the machine’s mask. “The Darth Vader look is certainly not sexy,” Chase said. For those reasons, many people who have the machine simply don’t use it.

That’s where a new dental technique comes in: oral appliance therapy. The appliance looks much like sports mouth guard. The small plastic device fits in the mouth and helps prevent the collapse of the tongue and soft tissues in the back of the throat, keeping the airway open during sleep and promoting adequate air intake. No noise, no mask, no snoring. 

“It’s very rewarding to see how patients are after first week. I had one couple in which a guy slept in a recliner chair his whole life. Now he and his wife are sleeping in the same bed,” Chase said. “It’s not just about sleep. It’s saving marriages.”

Aside from snoring, sleep-breathing disorders are linked to a flurry of medical problems including heart attacks, stroke, diabetes, weight gain, dementia, and diseases including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

“Being tired during the day is not normal,” Chase warns. “If you’re waking up with headaches, having three cups of coffee and still feeling tired, falling asleep at the wheel or feeling sleepy all of the time, you need to see a doctor.”

“We spend one-third of our lives sleeping, but we mostly only focus on the time that we’re awake. We can’t take care of ourselves just two-thirds of the time and ignore the rest.”

Dr. Barry Chase, DDS, PC, is the principal owner of and a practitioner in the field of dental solutions for improving sleep and breathing. He is a graduate of Georgetown University Dental School.