Magical Smiles Point Cook helps adults and teenagers who snore, breathe through their mouth or wake up tired, starting with a dental airway assessment at 220 Point Cook Road. We check your mouth, jaw, tongue and bite, explain whether a custom oral appliance or myofunctional therapy could help, and point you to a sleep physician for a sleep study when your symptoms suggest obstructive sleep apnoea. Dentists don't diagnose sleep apnoea, but once it's diagnosed, dental care can be part of how it's managed.
Snoring and mouth breathing creep up slowly, so many people live with them for years without realising a dentist can help look into them. If two or more of these sound familiar, an airway assessment is a sensible next step. You're far from alone: the Better Health Channel estimates that around 20% of the population snores at night, and its sleep apnoea page puts sleep apnoea at about 5% of Australians.
When to see a doctor first. Pauses in breathing, choking or gasping at night, or nodding off while driving, need a medical assessment. Obstructive sleep apnoea is diagnosed by a sleep physician after a sleep study, not by a dentist.
Ask your GP about a referral, or raise it at your appointment and we'll explain the pathway. We don't diagnose sleep apnoea or manage moderate-to-severe cases on our own, and we won't suggest otherwise.
Already using CPAP? Keep following your sleep physician's plan. We're happy to look after the dental side, including any oral appliance your physician recommends. healthdirect's obstructive sleep apnoea guide, last reviewed in June 2024, lists an oral appliance fitted by your dentist as one treatment option, alongside CPAP.
Some snoring comes from soft tissue in the throat vibrating as the airway narrows during sleep. Some comes from mouth breathing, a low-resting tongue and weak muscle habits. Often it's a mix of both. The assessment shows which is most likely for you, so treatment matches the cause rather than the noise.
For snoring that disturbs your sleep or someone else's. We check where the noise is likely coming from, whether you need a sleep study first, and which dental options could reduce it. The most common is a custom-made oral appliance: a mouthguard-style splint worn at night that holds the lower jaw slightly forward to help keep the airway open.
For mouth breathing, a low-resting tongue and swallowing habits that can sit behind snoring, jaw ache and grinding. Myofunctional therapy uses a few minutes of breathing and muscle exercises each day; systems such as Myosa® pair them with a soft, removable appliance.
We don't start treatment at the first visit. The two approaches above can look alike from the outside but suit different people, so we take the time to find out what's actually going on before recommending anything.
How you sleep, how you feel in the morning, whether your jaw aches or you get headaches, what a partner has noticed and what you've already tried. If someone shares your room, bring them along; they often notice things you can't.
We look at your tongue, palate, throat, bite, jaw joint and teeth for signs of grinding. It's a comfortable, non-invasive check with no needles, so it fits easily into a first appointment.
You'll hear which approach fits, or whether the better next step is a sleep study, an ENT opinion about a blocked nose, or no treatment at all. We'll put it plainly and give you time to decide.
Sometimes both approaches work together: an appliance or laser treatment for the tissue, and myofunctional therapy for the habits that keep the airway narrow. Sometimes only one is needed. And sometimes the most useful thing we can do is refer you to a sleep physician, because sending you to the right place matters more than treating the wrong problem.
Snoring and sleep treatments attract a lot of big promises. Here is what you can expect from our Point Cook team instead.
A sleep physician diagnoses and manages obstructive sleep apnoea. Our part is the dental side: the assessment, oral appliances where your physician agrees they suit, and working alongside your doctor rather than instead of them.
Some people notice a big change in their snoring; others see a partial improvement. Before you commit to anything, we'll tell you which seems more likely in your case and what follow-up involves.
The first visit is about understanding what's going on. Nothing is booked unless you want it, and "let's keep an eye on it" is a perfectly reasonable plan.
Snoring, sleep and myofunctional assessments are available at Magical Smiles Point Cook, 220 Point Cook Road, Monday to Saturday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Book online or call (03) 8338 1515. If a sister Magical Smiles clinic is closer to home, you'll find it under Our locations.
220 Point Cook Road, Point Cook VIC 3030
There's no rush. Book online when it suits, or call our Point Cook clinic and we'll help you work out whether an assessment is the right next step for what you're noticing.
This page gives general information about snoring, airway and sleep-related dental care at Magical Smiles Point Cook. It isn't medical advice or a diagnosis. Suspected obstructive sleep apnoea should be assessed by a sleep physician, and we're glad to help you arrange that.
Results vary between people. Suitability is assessed individually, and at your first consultation we'll explain what is likely to help and what isn't.
Myobrace® and Myosa® are registered trademarks of Myofunctional Research Co. Read about laser snoring treatment on its own page.