Your path to a real diagnosis.
Sleep apnea is not diagnosed from symptoms. It is diagnosed from a sleep study, read by a physician, and often that study is one comfortable night in your own bed.
A home sleep apnea test is a portable overnight study you take at home. It records breathing-related signals, oxygen saturation, and heart rate, and a physician interprets the recording and makes the diagnosis.
This practice does not diagnose sleep apnea. It screens for it, helps arrange testing, and treats it once a physician has made the diagnosis.
How home testing works
You are given a small device, such as the WatchPAT ONE, which is worn like a wristwatch with a finger probe. You sleep in your own bed on your own schedule, which is usually a more representative night than a lab. In the morning the recording is uploaded and sent for physician interpretation.
- Peripheral arterial tone
- A signal from the finger that shifts with the sympathetic surges that accompany breathing events.
- Blood oxygen saturation
- How far oxygen levels fall, and how often, across the night.
- Heart rate
- Recorded alongside oxygen, since apnea events drive characteristic changes.
- Body position and snoring
- Whether events cluster on your back, and how much noise accompanies them.
When a lab study is the better test
Home testing is not right for everyone, and it is worth being straightforward about that. An in-lab polysomnogram is generally preferred when there is significant heart or lung disease, neuromuscular weakness, a suspicion of central sleep apnea, or a suspicion of a sleep disorder other than obstructive apnea. A negative home test in someone whose symptoms still point to apnea should be followed by a lab study rather than treated as an all-clear.
What the numbers mean
The result you will hear most is the AHI, the apnea-hypopnea index: the average number of breathing events per hour of sleep. It is the number your physician uses to grade severity and the number a referral form asks for. It is also the number that gets re-measured after treatment, which is the only way to know an appliance is doing its job rather than simply feeling comfortable.
Already have a study? Bring it to your first visit, or tell us whose office holds it. Once a diagnosis exists we can move to a custom oral appliance.
Sleep testing, answered.
Can a dentist diagnose sleep apnea?
No, and any practice that says otherwise is worth avoiding. Obstructive sleep apnea is a medical diagnosis made by a physician from an interpreted sleep study. A dental sleep medicine practice can screen for it, help arrange testing, and treat it once a physician has diagnosed it.
What is a home sleep apnea test?
A home sleep apnea test, or HSAT, is a portable study you wear overnight in your own bed. It records the signals needed to detect breathing events, typically airflow or peripheral arterial tone, blood oxygen saturation, heart rate, body position, and snoring. The recording is then interpreted by a physician.
What is the WatchPAT ONE?
The WatchPAT ONE is a home sleep apnea test device worn like a wristwatch, with a finger probe. It measures peripheral arterial tone, a signal that shifts when breathing is disrupted, together with blood oxygen saturation. It is one of the devices used to arrange home testing for patients of this practice.
Is a home test as good as an overnight lab study?
For an otherwise healthy adult with a high likelihood of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, a home test is a recognized way to make the diagnosis and is far easier to actually get done. An in-lab polysomnogram remains the better test when there is significant heart or lung disease, neuromuscular weakness, suspected central sleep apnea, or a suspicion of another sleep disorder, and when a home test comes back negative in someone whose symptoms still point to apnea.
I already have a sleep study. Do I need another one?
Usually not, if it is recent and complete. Bring it, or tell us which physician's office holds it and we will request it. A study that is several years old, or that predates significant weight change or new symptoms, may need repeating, and that decision belongs to your physician.
Will I need to be re-tested after treatment starts?
Follow-up testing with the appliance in place is how you confirm that treatment is actually working rather than just feeling better. Your physician arranges it, and we coordinate the timing once the appliance has been titrated.
Clinically reviewed by Dr. Kathryn Sudikoff, DMD, Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine.Reviewed
Let us help you get a clear answer.
A short conversation is the fastest way to find out whether we can help. Most sleep and TMJ care here is billed to medical insurance.