What is snoring? Although snoring seems physically harmless, it can be a "red flag" for a much more serious and sometimes fatal condition called Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Snoring occurs when your soft palate and tongue relax onto the back of your throat, partially blocking your airway. As air tries to pass through, these structures vibrate against each other and produce the sound we know as snoring. By the way, the world record for snoring is over 90 decibels. That's equivalent to being 3 feet away from your 5 HP lawn mower engine!

What is sleep apnea? Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) occurs when the tongue and soft palate collapse onto the back of the throat, totally obstructing the airflow to your lungs and body. When the oxygen level in your brain becomes low enough, your body reacts by partially awakening you to re-open your airway, usually with a loud gasp for air. Because of the frequent arousals, people with sleep apnea don't spend enough time in deep, restful sleep and as a result, almost always suffer quality of life issues.

How do I know if I have sleep apnea? The only way to know for certain that you have sleep apnea is to get a sleep study. Then a doctor who specializes in the interpretation of sleep studies can make the proper diagnosis. However, if you snore and have other symptoms that we associate with sleep apnea, you should take it upon yourself to get checked out.

What are the signs and symptoms of Obstructive Sleep Apnea?

• Excessive Daytime Sleepiness (EDS)
• Fatigue
• Tiredness
• Snoring
• Clouded thinking, irritability, mood swings
•  Reflux Disease

Our office will be collecting food for Harvesters Food Pantry during the month of September. We already have an overflowing barrel and boxes of food covering the floor thanks to our generous patients. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. We are offering 1/2-off our Take Home Whitening kit to those who make a donation to Harvesters this month. Also, Dr. Steve and Dr. Robert will each be matching the donations made by our patients. Please drop by your food donations and help us help Harvesters!

Check out this link to learn more about Dr. Knight's compassion towards dental outreach: http://dentistry.umkc.edu/alum/Knight/knight.htm

We hope that you are having a great summer. Because of your referrals of friends and family, our practice has continued to grow. Due to this growth, we are excited to introduce the addition of Dr. Ashley Knight to our practice.

Dr. Ashley Knight is a graduate of both the University of Kansas and UMKC School of Dentistry. During her dental training, Dr. Knight was awarded the Presidential Volunteer Service Award for her outstanding volunteer service and willingness to give back to the local community. Dr. Knight completed her General Dentistry Residency in Denver, Colorado and is looking forward to returning to the area that she calls home. Because of her outstanding clinical skills and caring heart, we have invited Dr. Knight to join our team.

Our practice strives to always be available for our patients' needs. That is why we have continued to have our doctors available to you throughout the week with evening and early morning hours available. Dr. Robert Pierce will continue his normal schedule of seeing patients while Dr. Steve Pierce will be reducing the number of days in the office. Dr. Knight's addition will provide the opportunity for us to continue to serve you. Dr. Knight will be available to our patients Monday through Thursday starting July 19th. We hope that you will have the opportunity to welcome Dr. Knight to our practice.

The highest compliment our patients can give is the referral of their friends and family -- thank you for your trust. We look forward to continuing the best of dental care for you and your family.