The team at Babylon Dental Care has announced that practice founder Dr. Clifford Brown will be transitioning from the dental side of the practice to running his sleep practice, Silent Night Therapy, full-time. Dr. Brown, whose philosophy of patient care is “treat patients like family,” has been helping his patients improve their oral health for nearly four decades. Now, he’s shifting his focus full-time to his sleep practice and assisting patients who suffer from sleep apnea.
Dr. Brown is a member of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine (AADSM) and the Academy of Clinical Sleep Disorder Disciplines. After witnessing first-hand the number of patients suffering from sleep disorders, Dr. Brown began to educate himself on these issues and grew passionate about helping these patients find a better solution to their condition.
Even a decade ago, neither doctors nor patients knew much about sleep apnea. In fact, many people suffering from the condition wrote it off as insomnia or other health conditions. The fact is, sleep apnea is a dangerous disease that can lead to life-threatening health issues like hypertension, weight gain, exhaustion, headaches, gasping for air while sleeping, loud snoring, episodes of not breathing while asleep, and even death. According to the American Sleep Apnea Association, it is estimated that 22 million Americans are currently living with sleep apnea.
Now, in Dr. Brown’s view, the general public is finally beginning to wake up to the risks associated with sleep apnea. Sleep apnea has been the cause behind recent high-profile deaths, including the death of Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher. As a result, sleep and sleep apnea have become mainstream issues in both attention and importance in recent years. According to Dr. Brown:
“Sleep has a renewed sense of importance for people. We’re working harder than ever before, and under more stress than ever before. Getting good sleep is crucial to our overall health.”
Dr. Brown and the Silent Night Therapy team have seen a huge influx of new patients. Dr. Brown attributes the increase in appointments to a variety of factors. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic brought anxiety, making it more difficult for people to practice healthy sleep habits. And most recently, Philips, the manufacturer of the CPAP machine, recalled all CPAP devices in June of 2021, citing safety concerns.
For years, sleep apnea had been treated by using a CPAP device, which can be loud, uncomfortable to wear, and invasive. The CPAP essentially forces oxygen into a person’s lungs by delivering a constant and steady stream of air to a person while they sleep, which is an unnatural solution to a natural health problem. CPAP devices contain a sound abatement foam that has been shown to disintegrate over time, causing foam particles to flow into the airway. At the time of the recall, Philips disclosed that severe health risks had been associated with use of CPAP devices, including cancer.
The CPAP recall left millions of sleep apnea patients without a means to treat their condition, which led many to seek alternative treatments such as those offered by Silent Night Therapy.
Dr. Brown, a sleep apnea patient himself, could never understand why the CPAP device was considered the “gold standard”. As he furthered his training in Dental Sleep Medicine and Oral Appliance Therapy, he began to focus more on helping those suffering from sleep apnea find other alternatives to the noisy and intrusive CPAP device.
Dr. Brown’s sleep therapy practice, Silent Night Therapy, offers effective alternative solutions for sleep apnea patients. Dr. Brown was one of the first dentists on Long Island to recommend and make Oral Sleep Appliance (OSA) devices. These wearable appliances look similar to a mouthguard and are much less invasive than CPAP. OSAs treat sleep apnea by moving the jaw and slightly opening the air passage. These custom devices are made to fit virtually any mouth. Though many of Dr. Brown’s patients are CPAP intolerant and have been previously diagnosed at another office, Silent Night Therapy is fully equipped to diagnose new patients who are struggling with their sleep. The office gives the patient an at-home sleep study, which is often more accurate than an in-office sleep study because you can sleep more easily in your own bed, and with the results the team can diagnose whether the patient has sleep apnea.
In addition to Dr. Brown, Michele Sands, who has worked with Dr. Brown for more than a decade, will be transitioning and taking on the role of Sleep Director at Silent Night Therapy. As more people become aware of sleep-related issues, Dr. Brown hopes that he and his team will be able to help more patients get the healthy sleep they need and deserve.
About Babylon Dental Care and Silent Night Therapy
Babylon Dental Care has been serving the Long Island community with excellent dental care since 1983 with locations in West Babylon (785 W Montauk Highway, West Babylon, NY 11704) and Patchogue (499 Sunrise Highway, Ste. 13B, Patchogue, NY 11772). Visit us online at www.babylondentalcare.com and call us at (631) 587-7373.
A member of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine (AADSM) and the Academy of Clinical Sleep Disorder Disciplines, Dr. Brown started Silent Night Therapy to better assist sleep apnea patients. Visit our website at www.sleepbetterny.com and call 631-983-2463 for an appointment.
FEATURED IMAGE CREDIT: Bruce Mars on Unsplash.
