Airway Focused Health
IS YOUR KID SLEEPING WITH THEIR MOUTH OPEN..DO YOU KNOW IT'S NOT NORMAL!
Unfortunately, 50 - 60 % of Kids routinely breathe through the mouth which does cause adverse effects on their growth, development, and function.
If you answer YES to the following questions YOU NEED TO SEEK CONSULTATION TO CHECK WHETHER YOU CHILD IS SUFFERING FROM SLEEP DISORDERED BREATHING...which is layman's language mean breathing difficulties while sleeping...
Check if the following is applicable to your child:
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Restlessness while sleeping.
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Snoring.
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Wakingup cranky and irritated.
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Hyperactive during the day.
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Behavioural issues.
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Learning difficulties
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Reduced/poor performance in school.
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Picky eating.
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Bedwetting.
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Regular infections.
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Habitual mouthbreather/ keep their mouth open always.
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Long face relative to age.
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Crooked/ crowded teeth.
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Altered facial growth
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Slow growth
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Sleep terrors/nightmare.
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Obesity
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Fundamentally we need to understand that mouth is for eating food and the nose is for breathing which is necessary for optimal growth, development & function. Breathing through the nose is critical for optimal and normal development of the airway. When the child breathes through the nose with the lips closed and sealed and tongue resting against the palate, the tongue serves as a scaffolding for normal sideways growth of the upper jaw and thus wider airway. A dimensionally stable upper jaw guides the bottom jaw to grow in form and function which is esthetically pleasing and functionally important.
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Diagnosis of sleep-disordered breathing is based on clinical examination both intra-oral and extra-oral, sleep study, oximetry.
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WHAT IS THE BEST AGE FOR ORTHODONTIC CONSULTATION?
7 years is the right age for orthodontic assessment as the child is going through their growth phase involving facial bones. If need be this is the best time of intervention to redirect the growth in pre-determined direction.
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