FAQs

In our experience, dental insurance companies generally cover very little (to none) of the treatment costs. However, every plan is different and you can ask your insurance provider to give you an estimate of what part of treatment, if any, they will cover.

Dr. Goodfellow is a dentist. Nothing he does is covered by OHIP.

We do not direct bill insurance companies. Our patients pay us and we provide them with a receipt that they can submit to their insurance provider.

Boil-and-bite appliances are bulky and loose fitting, and can narrow your airway. They will not work as well as a custom-made appliance.

Dr. Goodfellow’s practice is limited to cranialfacial pain and sleep-breathing disorders. He does no general dentistry at this clinic.

Sleep apnea is extremely dangerous. Stopping, or almost stopping, breathing many times each hour causes an interruption of sleep. It causes the brain to be aroused many times, which creates an inflammatory response in the whole body. This can lead to high blood pressure, stroke, and heart attacks in adults, and bed wetting, and ADHD in children.

According to the American Board of Sleep Medicine, if you have mild to moderate sleep apnea, the treatment of choice is an oral appliance. However, if you have severe sleep apnea the first treatment you must try is a CPAP. If you are unable to tolerate a CPAP, then you can treat your sleep apnea with an oral appliance.

Actually, they don’t. Snoring in men is just noticed more by their bed partners/family.

Absolutely. We have diagnosed moderate sleep apnea in thin teenage girls and fit, athletic men in their 30’s.

You may suspect sleep apnea from frequent awakenings and constant fatigue but sleep apnea can only be diagnosed by a sleep physician from a sleep test.

Snoring is caused by the vibration of the tissues of the oropharynx. Snoring is not genetic, but anatomy that lends to snoring might be.

TMJ stands for temporomandibular joint, which is an anatomic term. TMD stands for tmporomandibular dysfunction, which is the name of a syndrome.

Patients often have a TMJ problem from clenching and grinding their teeth while sleeping. This can be attributed to the nervous system moving your jaw in an attempt to keep your airway open while you sleep. When you wear your nightguard, you have more surface area to clench on plus, the nightguard can reduce the size of your airway, causing even more muscle activity to keep your airway open. More muscle tightness leads to more pain.

Surprisingly, yes. TMJ issues can come from clenching and grinding your teeth during the night, while asleep. This can lead to tight muscles and jaw problems. In children and adolescents, TMJ and sleep problems often go undiscovered.

Botox is the injection of a neurotoxin into your jaw and head muscles to kill the nerves that cause your muscles to contract. About 33% of the nerves become paralyzed, making the force of contraction less. Botox only deals with your symptoms, not the cause of the problem. While Dr. Goodfellow is certified to give Botox injections, he decided long ago not to do them as he seems to be able to reduce the cause of TMJ problems significantly using oral appliances.

If your jaw clicks or pops when you open your mouth, you have a dislocated TMJ disc. If clicking/popping is your only symptom, no treatment is needed.

A dislocated disc happens to about 33% of the population.