Normal breathing during sleep should be through the nose, silent, and with lips closed. If your child is mouth breathing, have noisy breathing, snoring or grinding their teeth, they may suffer from Sleep Disordered Breathing (SDB). Unfortunately, this condition encompasses a spectrum of disorders and tends to get worse over time.
Sleep Disordered Breathing can have a significant impact on a child's overall health and well-being. Conditions once thought unrelated to sleep, such as ADHD, bedwetting, snoring, difficulty breastfeeding, poor school performance, enlarged tonsils and adenoids, obesity, and daytime fatigue or irritability, can often be linked back to airway issues and poor sleep caused by SDB.
Early diagnosis and treatment of SDB can make a big difference in a child's life. These issues can escalate when left untreated, potentially impacting a child's IQ development with each passing year.
Dr. Tina, our Prosthodontist & Airway Dentist, conducts a detailed evaluation of your child's craniofacial growth and development. This assessment includes examining nasal breathing, tongue function, presence of tongue-ties, swallow patterns, jaw and palate size, teeth grinding, and tonsil size. This comprehensive evaluation helps her create a treatment plan that addresses the root causes of sleep apnea in your child.
Leveraging her extensive training and personal commitment to improving children's sleep, Dr. Tina has developed protocols to determine the causes and effects of sleep-disordered breathing and developmental growth problems. These protocols have helped many children finally get the restorative sleep they need.
Dr. Tina tailors treatment plans to address sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in children. While treatment typically starts at age 4, evaluations for 3-year-olds can help identify potential issues and plan for future intervention.
Treatment usually involves a combination of myofunctional therapy, a myofunctional appliance, and breathing re-education exercises. In some cases, additional procedures like interceptive orthodontics or the release of lip and tongue ties may be necessary.
This comprehensive approach, typically taking 1-2 years, aims to establish nasal breathing, reduce future airway and breathing problems, and minimize the need for extensive orthodontics later in life.