Airway Development for Children and Toddlers

What are the symptoms of SRBD in kids?

9/10 Children Suffer from at least 1 symptom of SRBD.

• ADD / ADHD

• Bed Wetting

• Difficulty in School (Math, Science, Spelling)

• Mouth Breathing / Snoring

• Delayed or Stunted Growth

• Restless Sleep

• Nightmares

• Irritability / Anger / Aggression

• Morning Headaches

How can we treat SRBD in kids?

We know that improper mouth breathing leads to improper development of the jaws. We use a three part system to correct these issues.

1. Eliminate the improper habits and establish nasal breathing

   Habit correction is through a sized oral appliance that guides the tongue to the palate, encourages lip seal, gradually expands the palate, and promotes nasal breathing. This phase of treatment can begin as early as 2 years old.

2. Play “Catch Up” on growth of the skeleton

   Through various applainces, we will help your child reach the milestones they should have achieved if noxious habits were not impeding the growth of the jaws.

3. Finalize eruption of the permanent teeth

   Your child receives a customize appliance that “grabs” the first adult teeth and gradually guides the eruption into the ideal location. This helps to create the space to allow the adult teeth to come into the arch. The remaining adult teeth are guided into the correct orientation as the gum fibers start to hold onto them. This allows for better long term retention of straight teeth.

   If your child is older and needs more intervention, we can use protractive (not retractive) bracketing techniques to control the teeth while maintaing the airway space that we have created.

What to expect when you come to see us

Just like every child is unique, every case is unique. We welcome you to make an appointment for a consultation on how we can help your child achieve better overall health and wellness.

We treat each child like a member of our family.

A consultation with us includes a review of parent and patient concerns, an evaluation of the upper airway, speech and swallowing habits. This first evaluation can be done as early as 2 years old. Once your child has the first permanent teeth starting to erupt, we will begin to assess the next phase of treatment. In order to plan for the best treatment for your child we will take x-rays of the whole head and skull, take models of the jaws, and perform a thorough dental exam. We will work with your dental insurance through your orthodontic benefits to give you the best estimate of out-of-pocket expense.