Does your child have sleep disordered breathing?
Being a parent is hard. We are all trying to do what is right by our child and it can be difficult to find consistent and trustworthy information. As dentists, we can recognize signs of disordered sleep during your child’s dental evaluation. We can also provide a solution that will not only benefit your child’s dental health, but is also proven to improve sleep, behaviour, and overall health by increasing the amount of oxygen that your child intakes.
Complete this evaluation to assess your child and see if they would benefit from Healthy Start.
If you wish to learn more, book a consultation with Dr. Aisling Whitaker at our St Clair location.
Mouth Breathing
Mouth breathing is harmful as it doesn’t allow the body to filter and warm the air. It results in increased illnesses, allergies, enlarged tonsils, snoring and a narrower airway (from the diameter of a pea to a sesame seed).
Snoring & Grinding
A child should sleep without noticeable sound (when healthy). Grinding and snoring are one of the body’s ways to keep the brain alert and take in enough oxygen. When the airway is sufficiently patent, both of these reduce significantly.
Bed Wetting
Prolonged bedwetting and frequently waking to go to the toilet is another sign that the body is not getting enough oxygen while laying down. This is a natural response and can be reduced by at least 50% when breathing ability improves.
What is Healthy Start?
Healthy Start is a system of appliances that works while your child is growing. The goal of treatment is reach the optimum tongue posture, breathing pattern and reshape the mouth such that the jaw and arch shape are ideal. This happens by using a night appliance that has myofunctional therapy built in. The initial appliance is the habit corrector, worn for approximately 6 months, which trains the tongue position and swallowing as well as addressing mouth breathing. Once habit correction is complete, your child will then move through the next stages of treatment – orthodontic guidance. The long term goal is to avoid unnecessary intervention later on such as surgical orthodontics, sleep apnea appliances and medications for behavioural issues.
Encourages nasal breathing
Trains tongue posture
Reduces snoring + grinding
Reduces bed wetting
Reduces ADHD behaviour
Straightens teeth while child grows
Opens airway
Eliminates thumb + finger sucking
Corrects open bite
Improves focus and grades
Is your child 5 years old or more?
Click here to learn about early orthodontic guidance.