An Orthodontic Perspective on Airway Treatment
At Foundations Orthodontics, we talk a lot about our holistic approach to orthodontics. That means we don’t just look at your teeth and jaw alone — we consider the entire chewing system and your facial structure to bring your mouth, face, jaw, teeth and breath into harmony. Yes, your breathing is a big part of your oral development and functioning. And disordered breathing can have some pretty significant health and social development implications if left untreated.
If you, your child or teen are struggling with sleep apnea or sleep-disordered breathing, or are having trouble overcoming mouth breathing, Foundations Orthodontics team can help. Our board-certified orthodontist and bite correction expert, Dr. Renee Moran, offers airway obstruction treatment in Denver, Granby and Winter Park, CO for patients of all ages. When children, teenagers and adults can breathe properly and sleep soundly, it greatly improves their quality of life.
In this post, we’ll discuss:
The importance of breathing through your nose
How to identify a breathing problem
How airway treatment can help improve your breath and overall health
Our holistic airway treatment for kids, teens and adults
Why is Nasal Breathing So Important?
Did you know that sleep apnea and sleep-disordered breathing in kids is tied to mouth breathing, restless sleep, poor school performance, behavioral problems and even ADHD? Or that mouth breathing can cause major changes in your child’s dental and facial development? When children can’t breathe adequately through their nose and resort to mouth breathing, it can interfere with the development of their facial structures, impacting their appearance and health as an adult.
Nasal breathing, on the other hand, supports the proper functioning of our total body systems. Breathing correctly through the nose adds moisture and warmth to the air, enhances oxygen absorption by the lungs, filters out impurities and more. In kids, nasal breathing plays a critical role in their growth and development. In people of all ages, a lack of nasal breathing forces the body to adapt to get enough oxygen in the blood, leading to a number of potential consequences.
One of the most well known consequences of mouth breathing is sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), such as obstructive sleep apnea and upper-airway resistance syndrome. SDB doesn’t just affect adults either. It’s become a pervasive problem in children and has a negative impact on their development, growth, behavior, academic performance and overall well-being.
If your child experiences sleep problems, such as difficulty breathing or night terrors, this may be a symptom of an airway problem.
How Can I Tell if My Child Has an Airway Problem?
Even if they do breathe through their mouths at some point as children, most people naturally outgrow the habit and learn to breathe correctly through the nose. But if you suspect that your child may have an airway problem, there are some signs to look out for. Here are some common symptoms of a potential issue with breathing:
Snoring
Mouth breathing
Choking or gasping for air while sleeping
Pauses in breathing while sleeping
Fatigue
Bedwetting
Waking up frequently during the night
Other sleep problems, including night terrors and sleepwalking
Teeth grinding (bruxism)
Headaches
Tension in the neck and shoulders
Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain
Forward head posture
Behavioral and social problems (can mimic ADHD symptoms)
Academic issues, including difficulty paying attention
Asymmetrical facial appearance
Of course, this list is not exhaustive and symptoms vary from patient to patient. Similarly, any of these symptoms taken alone do not necessarily indicate an airway problem. Children also exhibit different symptoms than teens and adults, so diagnosing a breathing issue can be challenging. That’s why it’s important to be evaluated by a professional in airway treatment, like Dr. Moran.
Does My Child Need Orthodontics for Airway Problems?
Unlike traditional orthodontics, which centers mainly on straightening the teeth, holistic orthodontics looks at the entire dental and facial system, including the airway. When there is harmony between the teeth, bite, jaw joints, tongue position and facial structure, the airway is generally unobstructed, which encourages nasal breathing. Nasal breathing is essential for good health in all ages and critical for proper craniofacial development, head posture and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) function in kids and adults.
The best time to identify and treat an airway problem is while a child is still growing and has some of their baby teeth. With early intervention, we can correct the underlying cause of the airway problem and prevent issues with development and breathing in the least invasive way possible. However, it’s never too late to get treatment for breathing concerns and Dr. Moran can help teenagers and adults too. With her holistic approach, she aims to strike the perfect balance of health, function and cosmetics.
How We Treat Airway Problems with Holistic Orthodontics
At Foundations Orthodontics, we treat patients of all ages with a variety of breathing and airway problems in Denver, including nasal obstruction and sleep apnea. One of the ways we do this through a process that’s known as maxillary expansion. This essentially means we will expand, or widen, the upper jaw and palate using an orthodontic appliance that’s appropriate for your age.
Maxillary expansion allows us to:
Widen the floor of the nose (the palate, or roof of your mouth, is the floor of your nose) ● Create more space for the tongue
Create more space for the permanent teeth to erupt centered in bone
As a result, open the posterior pharyngeal airway space, as the tongue has more room to come forward
As we mentioned, the specific appliance or technique Dr. Moran uses will depend on your age. Here’s how we treat airway problems with orthodontics for kids, teens and adults:
Palatal expander for kids:
In young children, the maxillary bones (the bones that form the upper jaw) consists of two pieces that meet in the middle at a point known as the midline suture. Until kids reach puberty, the suture is not yet fused, and it will respond to pressure and tension with a fixed expander. This type of palate expander appliance attaches to the upper molars and sits against the roof of the mouth.
As you activate the palatal expander using a special key, it gently separates the two halves of the upper jaw and causes them to grow outwards. New bone forms in the middle, stabilizing the skeletal expansion. Not only does this widen the palate to open the airway — treatment also helps create a healthy, aligned bite and encourages your child’s permanent teeth to erupt into their proper positions.
Airway treatment for teens and young adults:
From the mid-to-late teen years into the early 20s, the midline suture is too tight to expand with a traditional palatal expander. However, Dr. Moran can often still achieve skeletal expansion by using a mini-implant-supported expander. Since it’s a bone-borne appliance instead of a tooth-supported one, it can exert enough force to safely widen the upper jaw.
We know this might sound intimidating at first, but we promise, getting the mini implants is minimally invasive and usually just feels like a lot of pressure. Just like with a regular expander, once the appliance is in place, you’ll use a key to activate it. This will gently separate the maxillae and help expand the upper jaw. Once expansion is complete, Dr. Moran will leave the appliance in for a little longer while new bone develops and locks the expansion in place.
Maxillary expansion in adults:
In more mature adults, there are options that can achieve the same results, though they do involve some form of surgical intervention. The two techniques Dr. Moran uses for maxillary expansion in adults are Distraction Osteogenesis Maxillary Expansion (DOME) and Surgically Assisted Rapid Palatal Expansion (SARPE).
Both options are multi-step procedures. First, Dr. Moran places a palatal expander, sometimes along with mini-implants, in the roof of your mouth. Then, your oral surgeon surgically opens the midline suture where the maxillae come together. Once the suture separates, you’ll turn the expander to gradually widen the upper jaw and expand the nasal floor. When expansion is complete, Dr. Moran will close the space between your front teeth that develops during the process and re-establish a healthy bite with orthodontic treatment, such as braces or Invisalign®.
Since SARPE relies on an expander that is attached to the teeth, the surgical aspect of treatment is more invasive. DOME uses a bone-borne appliance that exerts more force, reducing the amount of surgical intervention needed. Once Dr. Moran has a diagnosis and understanding of your needs, she’ll be able to help you decide on the best treatment for your case.
What Results Can I Expect from Airway Treatment?
Patients who undergo airway treatment have a much better quality of life. From better sleep and oxygen supply to the blood, brain and body to improved school performance and healthier facial development, the results of airway treatment can truly be life changing.
Not sure if you or your child is dealing with an airway issue? That’s why we’re here! To learn more or to have your airway evaluated by a holistic orthodontist in Denver, Granby or Winter Park, contact Foundations Orthodontics to schedule a consultation for yourself or your child today.