Guiding a Child’s Healthy Development

by | Oct 10, 2023 | Blog

With a commitment to advanced dental studies, I’ve come to recognize that we are not only protecting and improving smiles, we’re looking more comprehensively at an entire person.  We’re seeing ways to help others toward a healthier future.

My interest in airway and sleep disordered breathing developed over the past 15 years because proper breathing is at the center of healthy living. Many diseases are linked to a root cause of an obstructed airway. Looking toward prevention and the younger generation, there is now a way to guide proper development so that the airway is protected.

In regard to normal growth and development of children, it is a rare instance that a child or teen doesn’t need orthodontics and/or their wisdom teeth extracted. It is very common, but is not normal.  In the grown adult, orthodontic relapse may be seen as an expression of lack of retention, and there may also be neuromuscular patterns that complicate the case. Myofunctional Therapy is one way of retraining for better outcomes.

There is a way to follow a child, as early as three years old, and help aide them in normal growth and development where traditional orthodontics may wait to treat in phases. This allows a child to grow into a healthier airway, instead of waiting.

This growth and development is done every night as the child sleeps. It is a removable oral appliance that will help with the normal growth and development of the child and also to help promote nasal breathing (which has its own lifelong benefits).

Review the list below and if you, your child, or your grandchild have any of these symptoms, give us a call at (215) 860-5901. We’re here to help.

  • Restless Sleep
  • Anger/Aggression
  • Irritability
  • Nightmare/Night Terrors
  • Problems with Speech
  • Snoring
  • Teeth Grinding
  • Crowded Teeth
  • Chronic Allergies
  • Mouth Breathing
  • Enlarged Tonsils/Adenoids
  • Bedwetting
  • Chronic Ear Infections
  • Dark Circles Under Eyes
  • Daytime Drowsiness
  • Asthma
  • Trouble Concentrating/Focusing
  • Frequent cavities
  • ADD/ADHD
  • Difficulty in School