"Sleep apnea (AP-ne-ah) is a common disorder in which you have one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breaths while you sleep. Breathing pauses can last from a few seconds to minutes. They may occur 30 times or more an hour. Typically, normal breathing then starts again, sometimes with a loud snort or choking sound. Sleep apnea usually is a chronic (ongoing) condition that disrupts your sleep. When your breathing pauses or becomes shallow, you’ll often move out of deep sleep and into light sleep. As a result, the quality of your sleep is poor, which makes you tired during the day."

Sleep apnea effects more than your sleeping patterns – sleep apnea can have wide-ranging implications on your overall health.

Dr. Sharifi has been at the forefront of dentistry solutions to treat sleep apnea for years and has seen his client's successes firsthand. He is a sleep advocate and an industry leader in developing new sleep apnea treatments that use state of the art dentistry technologies. Dr. Sharifi teaches dentists from around the world how to incorporate his proven sleep apnea treatments into their practices, so they can also experience the same sense of gratification. If you suffer from mild or moderate sleep apnea, Dr. Sharifi is here to help!

First, you’ll need to be evaluated with a sleep study to see if you have obstructive sleep apnea. After the sleep study, you will learn about all your options for treatment, whether or not an oral appliance for apnea is appropriate for you. Once you have decided that it is, you’ll need to come to our Camp Verde office so that we can take impressions of your teeth to make your custom sleep apnea appliance. We’ll send the impressions to our dental lab and in a week or two they will send your oral sleep appliance back to us. Since the appliance is considered a medical treatment, your medical insurance will probably help cover part or even all the cost!