Your Trusted Sleep Clinic Melbourne

At a sleep clinic, we assess and diagnose sleep disorders to help improve your sleep quality. When you visit, you may undergo a range of tests and evaluations. These typically include:

Initial Consultation: You’ll meet with a sleep expert who will ask about your sleep patterns, lifestyle, and any specific sleep issues you’ve been dealing with. They may ask you to keep a sleep diary for a week or two before your appointment.

Sleep Studies (Polysomnography): If needed, you might be asked to stay overnight at the clinic for a sleep study. During this, sensors will be attached to your body to monitor brain activity, heart rate, breathing, muscle movements, and eye movements while you sleep. This comprehensive assessment helps identify issues such as sleep apnoea, restless leg syndrome, or other sleep disorders.

Home Sleep Testing: In some cases, you may be given a portable sleep monitor to use at home. This is usually a simpler test for conditions like sleep apnoea, where the monitor tracks your breathing patterns and oxygen levels overnight.

Follow-up: After your test results are analysed, you’ll have a follow-up appointment to discuss the findings and any treatment options. Depending on the diagnosis, treatments could include lifestyle changes, behavioural therapy, devices like CPAP machines for sleep apnoea, or medications in some cases.

The goal of our sleep clinic Melbourne is to identify the cause of your sleep problems and find the most effective treatment to help you get a better night’s sleep.

Yes, during a sleep study at a sleep clinic, the staff will monitor your sleep, but they don’t watch you directly like someone on a camera. Instead, they use special equipment to track important things like your brain waves, heart rate, breathing, muscle movements, and oxygen levels while you sleep.

The sleep technologists will keep an eye on the equipment all night. If you need help, you can talk to them through the monitoring system. If you need to get up, they can come into the room to help untangle the wires.

Sometimes, the technologist might ask you to try an oral appliance to see if it helps with sleep apnoea. Even though the staff are in the clinic, they usually watch the equipment from another room. The goal is to collect accurate information about your sleep to diagnose sleep disorders, like sleep apnoea or restless leg syndrome, without disturbing your sleep.

You’ll be in a private room during the study, and the staff will check in on you if needed. The main goal is to gather the right information to understand your sleep better and help with diagnosis.

The body clock, also called the circadian rhythm, is your natural internal cycle that controls your sleep-wake patterns and other important bodily functions over a 24-hour period. It affects when you feel sleepy, when you’re most alert, your body temperature, hormone levels, and other key processes that impact your sleep health.

Your body clock plays a vital role in understanding sleep problems and improving sleep quality. If your body clock gets out of sync — for example, because of shift work, jet lag, insomnia, or sleep apnoea — it can mess with your sleep patterns, leaving you feeling tired, cranky, or even harming your overall health.

Not necessarily! If our team thinks you need one, then we will refer you to a sleep expert. When we do, they are predominantly home-based sleep surveys. However, in some instances, they will be carried out in our state-of-the-art sleep clinic.

In 95% of cases, the Australian Dental Association recognise that oral appliance therapy is hugely effective in assisting snorers. Treatment can ensure that patients and their long-suffering partners get a good night’s sleep and wake up feeling refreshed and re-energised. At the 2018 sleep conference in Brisbane, a study was released stating that customised oral appliances are equally as effective as any CPAP machine in overcoming sleeping, snoring and sleep apnoea problems.

Moreover, both the Australian Sleep Association (ASA) and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) state that oral appliances are now considered the first-line treatment for snoring and an effective alternative to CPAP equipment for sleep apnoea sufferers.

Yes, you can, but there is no guarantee they will work. Most of these are non-customisable ‘one size fits all’ models which may exacerbate your problems or not assist them. Some appliances can even make sleep apnoea or snoring problems worse.

Absolutely!  As a side benefit, oral appliances can also help prevent teeth from grinding together during sleep.

While typically they are designed to last around 5-10 years, oral appliances can last considerably longer if cared for properly. Dr Teo and the team will give your oral appliance an annual check-over to ensure it remains in good condition and is capable of doing the job it set out to do. On some occasions, we will perform a reline in cases where wear and tear are apparent and when you do eventually need to replace your oral appliance, we will change it at a discounted price.

The majority of Melbourne Dental Sleep Clinic patients suffer little or no side effects. However, a few people may experience minor side effects ranging from dry mouth to bite changes through to excessive salivation. That said, most side-effects are temporary and will usually disappear after a day or two. If not, the appliance may only need a simple adjustment.

No problem! Our custom made oral appliances are designed to be used in virtually any given situation. Provided that you have at least 4 teeth remaining, then an appliance will function easily.

Even for edentulous patients -with no teeth-, or a denture, an appliance can still be made, although it might be a little more tricky.

Costs cover any initial consultations and follow-ups but also include:

• Laboratory fees
• Fitting appointments
• Customised manufacture of your oral appliance and,

Any warranty that covers faults, repairs or maintenance

Unfortunately not through Medicare. Your private health insurance might cover the cost but it depends on your level of cover. Oral appliances are covered under both minor and major dental cover so you will need to check the small print. Companies such as BUPA, Medibank Private, NIB and HBF may need a letter from our clinic before you can claim a rebate on the oral appliance.

Yes. However, you will need to have undergone an initial consultation, be referred or have undergone a sleep study and have gained approval before commencing your treatment.

We accept all private health insurances, however, our Melbourne Dental Sleep Clinic does not have HICAPS. As a result, patients will need to pay on the day in full, then claim the funds back via their own Health fund. Patients can benefit from several flexible ways to pay.