Sleep Apnea in Babies and Children

Baby's Sleep Apnea can be fatal.

Prevention and early treatment is the best thing you can do for your kids.

Sleep disorders often occur in children because of congenital issues or/and tonsils, and children that are sleep-deprived need to be evaluated by a Dentist and pediatrician; Children that  snore should be evaluated by an ENT. Morning crankiness or behavior problems at school could signal a warning for OSA; long narrow faces may indicate sleep deprivation; and a bluish hue under the eyes can be a sign of allergies or oxygen deprivation. Children who have sleep disturbances are often smaller because they lack vital growth hormone production during lesser stages of REM sleep. Sleep deprivation can cause attention and behavioral problems and increase the risk of obesity.

Obstructive sleep apnea has being associated with heart disease and sudden death....It is a serious condition and potentially life threatening disorder.

Symptoms of Sleep Apnea in Children
Hyperactivity
Poor concentration -Some times are Diagnosed by mistake with ADD/ADHD
Developmental delay
Hyponasal quality to their voice
Noisy breathers
Obesity
Frequent upper airway infections
Earaches
Bedwetting
Nocturnal mouth breathing
Snoring
Restless sleep
Nightmares
Night terrors
Headaches
Chronic nose running

Pediatric Sleep Apnea Treatment includes: CPAP,surgery, Removal of tonsils, weight loss and oral appliance. Avoid airway irritants and allergens.

 Most parents now are more educated and want to know more about what is best for their children’s nutrition, education and life. As a modern parent, you should also learn more about your child facial development and its influence in airway, sleep, pain, orthodontic conditions and make healthier choices that will impact you child life.

Dentofacial orthopedics is the way to early treatment and preventing OSA (can open the airway 10 mm or more) by developing the facial profile to an optimum situation and maintaining or increasing the airway space. Call our office for a complimentary consultation. Treatment should be started as soon as the problen is diagnosed after 2 years of age. Without treatment, the problem is only going to get worse. Just look for the V shaped form between menton and lip.

Give your children a present for life: Beautiful smiles and faces without apnea and snoring. Treatment started as young as 2 years old, can Help your children to reach the maximum growth potential by helping to remove possible obstacles to their breathing, swallowing, sleeping and developing a beautiful facial profile at the same time.

Parents are the first ones to notice their babies problems…and as a parent  you can be the first one to help in prevention and early care of potentially life treating conditions in your children.

Starting at pregnancy by preparing to:

1-Learn a little about craniofacial development and accept the fact that harmful habits are impediments for children’s to reach their full potential development with excellent quality of sleep. Those habits can be controlled since birth.

The airway is the keystone of the face. The airway stabilizes the surrounding arches: the orbits, palate. maxillary arch, cheek bones and sinuses.

Maxillary arch holds 85% of the nasal airway. A compromised airway in a child changes the activating signal and alters growth and development. Airway, allergies, tongue and lips posture, adenoids and habits….they are all related.

The human fetus starts to swallow at approximately 12 weeks of gestation as per prenatal studies Davis ME, and Potter EL, Intrauterine Respiration of the human fetus.JAMA 131:1194, 1946.

The largest increase in development occurs within the first 4 years of life. early treatment works faster,less expensive,less traumatic with better results and should be performed as soon as a problem or condition is observed. Craniofacial development is 90% complete by 12 years of age. Shepard et al, Sleep 1991 Research done at Mayo
The force needed to move an anterior tooth is 1.7 Gr; the lower lip can exert a force of 100 to 300 Gr; The tongue has 16 muscles with a total force of  up to 500 Gr., making the tongue the strongest muscle in the human body (if considered as one group of muscles).  Just imagine what could happen when there is no control or equilibrium on this forces and the damage that can be done on a child dental arches and face.

2-Learn about breastfeeding: advantages of doing  it VS artificially fed infants.
Artificially fed infants have greater overall incidence of upper respiratory allergies, that close the nasal airway, resulting in mouth breathing and predisposition to child to  respiratory disorders.

  The best position to hold a nursing infant is upright rather than reclining. Healthy swallowing in a reclining position is just as difficult for the baby as it is for the adult. Nursing in a reclining position often causes milk to flow into the middle ear and may cause inflammation and possibly other pharyngeal complications. The infant will thrust the tongue forward to expel the milk and thereby prevent pooling in the pharyngeal region. Continued feeding in a reclined position may potentiate tongue thrust. When babies are held upright positions they are encouraged to take the breast milk with the neck stretched and a forward stretching of the chin, which is most important for healthy orofacial development.

3-learn about habits and how to control them. Sucking, tongue trust, lips posture and mouth breathing can be controlled and treated early. See more info in how we can help your children to  control oral habits.
The neonatal sucking reflex is an automatic reflex that is clinically evidenced immediately post-partum. The infant’s tongue undulates anteriorly and posteriorly. Any object placed into the oral cavity, on which the infant sucks, other than the breast, can act as an orthodontic appliance, depending on the force, intensity, direction and duration of the sucking. This allows the potential for creating malocclusion with a resultant TMJ dysfunction and airway invasion and compromise to increase the risk of developing sleep apnea.

Granted, there are children who are passive suckers, and they do not create a malocclusion, but rather than take the risk it is better to discourage the habit. The alternative choice, for determined-to-suck child, is to substitute a Nuk exerciser, available in small and large sizes. The objective is to channel the sucking activity through the exerciser to stimulate healthier growth and development. The Nuk design allows the child to close lips and enables normal forward and back movement of the mandible, as in nursing. The oral baglet of the Nuk nipple is designed to broadly fit the anatomy of the baby’s palate and inner arch. The nipple hole, being on top and toward the palate, distributes fluid over the palate and on top of the tongue. The tongue side of the baglet is cupped, causing the tongue to lie flatly under the Nuk nipple and not around it, as with conventional nipples. The soft baglet has low inclined anterior guide planes, which are designed to broadly and flatly contact important anterior elements of the upper and lower jaw during nursing. It is also designed so that the infant can close the lips during nursing. All this helps the baby to grow and develop the face and airway in a unrestricted way.
There is plenty of evidence in the literature that mouth-breathing has an adverse effect on the growth and development of the face and jaws. All children who are habitual mouth-breathers will have a malocclusion. The mouth breathers’ maxillas and mandibles are more retrognathic. Palatal height is higher, overjet is greater in mouth breathers. Overall, mouth breathers have longer faces, with narrower maxillae and retrognathic jaws.

With dentofacial orthopedics, the airway is open to avoid sleep apnea and correct the facial profile.


4-OSA and TMJ disorders…..They are related to facial and airway development; you can take preventative measures and early treatment as the best option to mayor complications.

5-Orthodontic conditions….teeth crowding and abnormal bites with deep/overbite are more likely to develop OSA and TMJ dysfunction due to the airway space invasion and jaw collapse. Early treatment with dentofacial orthopedics will help to prevent OSA and develop a more appealing facial profile for your children. Waiting to treat your children with braces after 12 years old, only increases the risk of the need for teeth extractions and jaw surgery to correct the problem, compromising at the same time the upper airway space.

6-Diet...Softer diet from fast food in young infants create a smaller bones and an incorrect maxilla/mandible relationship. This will allow to develop teeth crowding with mayor orthodontic needs, TMJ dysfunction and Obstructive Sleep apnea. Hard/semi-hard and fibrous diet accompanied with normal swallowing and breathing stimulates growth factors to develop the necessary bone structures to accommodate all teeth and proper airway. Plus sleep apnea and snoring are related to obesity. The best is prevention by decreasing eating hot dogs,fries, burgers, pizza and increasing the intake of more fruits, vegetables and fiber rich foods.

Call today for a complimentary consultation to learn more about stoping snoring and preventing sleep apnea in children.

Pembroke Pines, Fl. (954) 392-1851
Boca Raton, Fl. (561) 750-6790