Schaumburg Dentist Gives All Day Lecture on Sleep Medicine to Illinois Academy of General Dentistry

May 20, 2011 - PRLog -- Diagnosis and Treatment of sleep disordered breathing was the main subject of the very well attended course.  Dr Shapira is a recognized national expert on Dental Sleep Medicine.  As an Visiting Assistant Professor at Rush Medical School in Chicago in the 1980's he did research on jaw position and Sleep Apnea.  In 1991 Dr Shapira was one of 20 founding dentists in the Sleep Disorder Dental Society (SDDS).  The SDDS evolved into the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, the largest professional dental  group involved in treating sleep disorders.

Dr Shapira, a Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine treats patients on alternating Fridays at the office of Dr Alan Acierno on Roselle Road.  Dr Shapira also works with closely with several sleep labs and sees patients at American Sleep Medicine in Skokie on alternating Fridays.  

Treating patients with sleep apnea is a passion for Dr Shapira as in educating physicians and dentists in the intricacies of Sleep Apnea treatment.

Comfortable alternatives to CPAP are essential because the majority of patients do not tolerate continuous positive air pressure due to problems with the mask, the hose and the machine.

CPAP is considered the Gold Standard of treatment but only 23-45% of patients tolerate CPAP.  Untreated sleep apnea is very dangerous.

The I HATE CPAP! website  http://www.ihatecpap.com was created by Dr Shapira to help patients who do not tolerate CPAP find comfortable Oral Appliance alternatives.  Dr Shapira stresses that he does not "Hate CPAP" but that his website was actually named by his patients who always exclaimed "I HATE CPAP!"  

Approximately 25% of patients do extremely well with CPAP or BiPAP therapy and love it from the very  first day and wear it all night every night and do fantastic.  There is a large group of patients who try to be compliant with CPAP therapy but are only partially successful.

The 40% of patients who actually use CPAP average only 4-5 hours a night 4-5 nights a week not the recommended 7-8 hours needed.

The Illinois Sleep Society is having it's first annual continuing education program on Saturday, May 21 and Dr Shapira is one of the speakers.  Dr Shapira is the only dentist on the Board of Directors of the Illinois Sleep Society.

Dr Shapira teaches a two day intensive course on Sleep Apnea Treatment several times a year to small groups of dentists and their office staff.   He lectured extensively at the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine in the 1990's of Anti-Aging Dentistry and the treatment of Sleep Apnea and Snoring.

The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute of the NIH considers Sleep Apnea to be a Temporomandibular Disorder.  A major portion of Dr Shapira's Gurnee Dental practice is treatment of TMJ disorders and sleep apnea.  He utilizes Neuromuscular Dentistry to help patents find relief from chronic headaches and migraines through TMD treatment.

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I HATE CPAP! LLC provides information on Sleep Apnea, Dental Sleep Medicine and alternative to CPAP for patients who are CPAP intolerant. The website http://www.ihatecpap.com has valuable information on treating sleep apnea utilizing oral appliances.