We are more sleep deprived than ever before. Almost 1 in 5 UK residents aren’t getting enough sleep, and the consequences of this are far greater than we think.[i] Natural sleeping patterns have been changed by the digital world, with the ideal 7-9 hours of daily rest feeling a lot harder to achieve.
Sleep deprivation can be caused by numerous factors, such as obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). By understanding the wider impacts of sleep deprivation and the links with dental hygiene, practitioners can be better equipped to help patients who may be suffering, or at risk from, sleep deprivation. As constant tiredness can impact overall health, a good night’s sleep can improve quality of life.
Sleepless screens
Patients with OSA may wake up repeatedly in the night, preventing a full night’s sleep and limiting their productivity the following day due to extra tiredness.[ii] Prevalence of OSA in adults is between 9% and 38%; its impact on sleep is bolstered by the disruptive patterns of the digital world that affect all ages.
The influx of new technology has radically altered our sleeping patterns in the 21st century. The UK population spends more time looking at screens – phones, computers, tablets, TVs – than they do sleeping.[iii] Among 16–24-year-olds, multiple devices are used simultaneously so that an average of 14 hours and 7 minutes of media activity are compressed into 9 hours every day.iii
Technology is not just used in the daytime: 50.09% of Britons have a TV in their bedroom to lay and watch something before sleep.[iv] Overall, 70% of adults use electronics of some description in their bedroom before they go to sleep.[v] Screens impact how we sleep, with prolonged exposure to blue light disrupting sleepiness.[vi] This means that OSA sufferers are even less likely to properly rest.
Rhythm and blues
The circadian rhythm is a 24-hour internal clock that regulates alertness and sleepiness according to changes in light. There are many biological clocks in the body, composed of proteins encoded by thousands of genes that switch on and off.[vii] The suprachiasmatic nucleus in the brain is the master clock; it releases melatonin based on the amount of light the eyes receive, and the melatonin causes sleepiness.vii The blue light from sources like TVs and phones suppresses melatonin, delaying tiredness.vi
The circadian rhythm can also be affected by food intake, stress, physical activity, social environment, and temperature.vii As sleep supports memory consolidation, body healing and metabolic regulation, a disrupted circadian rhythm from OSA or technology use can have major health impacts.[viii] Short-term disruptions can include memory issues, delayed wound healing and digestion problems, whilst long-term health conditions like cardiovascular disease can be caused by an altered sleep pattern.[ix]
Besides the health risks, sleep deprivation impacts relationships and mental wellbeing. Insufficient rest is associated with poor mood, struggling to judge other people’s emotions, and an inability to control emotions – we have all felt irritable when tired and may be more argumentative.i For younger demographics, sleep deficiency can reduce concentration and creativity, whilst adults may be impacted at work, and while driving are more likely to have a serious injury.[x] Tackling sleep deprivation can lower the chances of these risks.
Sweet dreams
With sleep deprivation having a damaging effect on daily life and long-term health, a greater focus is needed on treating this issue. Dental sleep medicine (DSM) considers disorders such as OSA and snoring, but bruxism, hypersalivation, orofacial pain and xerostomia are other sleeping disorders that all impact dentistry.[xi]
To gain a detailed understanding of the overlap between sleeping disorders and dental hygiene, IAS Academy offers the Dental Sleep Medicine course. Led by Dr Paul Reaney, an international lecturer on DSM, the one-day course covers various therapies for OSA and snoring, fitting mandibular advancement devices, and using a digital clinical workflow with Envista technologies – among many more topics. Completing the course will give you a greater awareness of natural sleeping patterns and how sleep deprivation impacts quality of life. It will also educate you on how to identify warning signs of sleep-disordered breathing in children, preventing the problem in its early stages.
Consistent sleep is essential for overall health. With sleeping patterns altered by technology and breathing disorders, learning about new ways to help restore an uninterrupted night’s sleep can change lives for the better.
For more information on upcoming IAS Academy training courses, please visit www.iasortho.com or call 01932 336470 (Press 1)
Author: Dr Tif Qureshi, Founder and a clinical director of IAS Academy
Dr Tif Qureshi founder and a clinical director of IAS Academy, qualified from Kings College London in 1992. He is a Past President of the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, an International faculty that provides mentored education for general dentists on a pathway from appropriate simple to comprehensive orthodontics.
Tif has a special interest in simple orthodontics and truly minimally invasive dentistry. He has committed his life’s work to empowering dentists to provide important alternative techniques. He offers a wide variety of treatments to many more patients, while always respecting the fundamental precepts of orthodontics.
Tif also pioneered the concept of Progressive Smile Design through Alignment, Bleaching, Bonding – a course that combines tooth alignment, composite bonding and teeth whitening to produce superior smiles using techniques with the absolute minimum of invasiveness available today.
An experienced teacher in the Dahl concept, Tif shows how this technique is used to plan tooth alignment and minimise invasive dentistry in the development of a beautiful smile.
Tif now lectures and published scientific articles internationally.
[i] Mental Health UK. (n.d.). Sleep and mental health. [online] Available at: https://mentalhealth-uk.org/help-and-information/sleep/#:~:text=Almost%201%20in%205%20people.
[ii] Watson, S. (2017). The Effects of Sleep Apnea on the Body. [online] Healthline. Available at: https://www.healthline.com/health/sleep-apnea/effects-on-body.
[iii] Britons spend more time on tech than asleep, study suggests. (2014). BBC News. [online] 6 Aug. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-28677674#:~:text=Britons%20spend%20more%20time%20using [Accessed 25 Jul. 2024].
[iv] www.time4sleep.co.uk. (n.d.). 50% of Brits have a TV in their bedroom: Sleep expert comments on if you should watch TV to go to sleep. [online] Available at: https://www.time4sleep.co.uk/blog/50-of-brits-have-a-tv-in-their-bedroom-sleep-expert-comments-on-if-you-should-watch-tv-to-go-to-sleep [Accessed 25 Jul. 2024].
[v] Bhat, S., Pinto-Zipp, G., Upadhyay, H. and Polos, P.G. (2018). ‘To sleep, perchance to tweet’: in-bed electronic social media use and its associations with insomnia, daytime sleepiness, mood, and sleep duration in adults. Sleep Health, 4(2), pp.166–173. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2017.12.004.
[vi] Harvard Health Publishing (2020). Blue Light Has A Dark Side. [online] Harvard Health. Available at: https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/blue-light-has-a-dark-side.
[vii] National Institute of General Medical Sciences (2023). Circadian Rhythms. [online] www.nigms.nih.gov. Available at: https://www.nigms.nih.gov/education/fact-sheets/Pages/circadian-rhythms.aspx.
[viii] Reddy, S., Sharma, S. and Reddy, V. (2018). Physiology, Circadian Rhythm. [online] Nih.gov. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519507/.
[ix] Healthline. (2020). Circadian Rhythm: What It Is, How it Works, and More. [online] Available at: https://www.healthline.com/health/healthy-sleep/circadian-rhythm#when-to-talk-with-a-doctor.
[x] National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (2022). Sleep Deprivation and Deficiency – What Are Sleep Deprivation and Deficiency? | NHLBI, NIH. [online] www.nhlbi.nih.gov. Available at: https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/sleep-deprivation#:~:text=Sleep%20deficiency%20is%20linked%20to.
[xi] Lobbezoo, F., Nico de Vries, Jan de Lange and Ghizlane Aarab (2020). A Further Introduction to Dental Sleep Medicine. Volume 12, pp.1173–1179. doi:https://doi.org/10.2147/nss.s276425.
