[b][Salt Lake City, 1/8/2016][/b] – Crayton R. Walker DDS, MD, a trusted oral and maxillofacial surgeon in Utah, offers sleep apnea treatments. Before selecting a particular treatment for a patient, Dr. Walker runs a series of tests first and coordinates with Pulmonary Sleep Medicine Specialists to ensure the quality of sleep apnea treatments that he gives in his clinic.

[b]What is Sleep Apnea?[/b]

Sleep apnea is a disorder in which a patient experiences abrupt stops and starts in breathing while at sleep. Signs of sleep apnea include loud snoring, choking or shortness of breath that wakes a person up in the middle of the night. If not treated, sleep apnea results in poor sleep quality and extreme daytime sleepiness. Patients with this disorder also have an increased incidence of cardiac arrhythmia during sleep, which can lead to sudden death.

[b]Three Types of Sleep Apnea[/b]

• Obstructive Sleep Apnea
During sleep, a patient experiences repetitive breathing pauses. These pauses are associated with lower blood oxygen saturation and an obstructed upper airway.
• Central Sleep Apnea
During sleep, a patient experiences repeated stops and starts in breathing because the patient’s brain fails to send appropriate signals to the muscles that control breathing.
• Complex Sleep Apnea Syndrome
This is a case where a patient has both obstructive and central sleep apnea.

[b]Sleep Apnea Diagnosis and Treatments[/b]

Dr. Walker’s first step involves an accurate diagnosis. Dr. Walker is qualified to evaluate a patient’s teeth and bite, tongue size and size of the posterior airway space. The diagnosis may also include a Panorex x-ray, cephalometric x-ray and analysis, and Cone Beam Scan. Dr. Walker also performs an overnight screening pulse oximetry evaluation in some cases. Dr. Walker, together with Pulmonary Sleep Medicine Specialists, also conducts a formal overnight sleep study to check a patient’s condition.

After the diagnosis, depending on a patient’s condition, Dr. Walker may recommend lifestyle changes and the use of oral appliances, or suggest a surgical procedure and therapies that can treat abnormal airway pressure problems.

Dr. Crayton Walker’s clinic is located at Salt Lake City, and sleep apnea treatments are just one of the services that Dr. Walker offers.

[b]About Crayton R. Walker DDS, MD[/b]

Dr. Crayton R. Walker DDS, MD began practicing in Oral and Maxillofacial surgery in 1981. He earned his DDS degree from Loma Linda University in 1974. He then went on to the University of Texas in San Antonio, where he finished his MD degree and an internship in Anesthesiology.

Dr. Walker is certified by the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. He is an active staff member of Salt Lake Regional Medical Center, LDS Hospital, and Intermountain Medical Center, and is the current Chief of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center. Dr. Walker is the past president of the Utah Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.

For more information about Dr. Crayton R. Walker DDS, MD and his services, visit http://www.drwalkerddsmd.com.