Your Child’s Breathing And Sle
By Lidio Rainaldi, DDS
Dentistry today is taking on yet another challenge. As the dentist has always been the specialist of what’s going on in your mouth and looking down your throat for any problems, it is becoming our duty to also start looking for any blockages that may be affecting your oxygen intake. Breathing is a life-giving function. The ideal scene for you and your child’s health, wellness, and brain development is to have an open airway, breathing through your nose, and to have nightly deep, restorative sleep. The body needs oxygen more than any other nutrient. Our cells need oxygen to create energy — 25% of which goes directly to the brain. Studies have shown, when the brain doesn’t get the oxygen it needs, parts of the brain may be damaged, often permanently; and, the heart will be overworked trying to compensate. This in itself leads to a lot of other health problems, which over time
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become chronic. The medical term “Sleep Apnea” is when there is Obstructive Breathing. This occurs when the throat and airway gets blocked and needed oxygen is cut off. The medical profession once thought this primarily
occurred in overweight adults, but now realize that it can occur in almost anyone. Children can have blocked airways at a very early age, even as infants. There are many ways the airway can be blocked. Narrow faces, large tongue, large tonsils, crowded teeth, a small lower jaw, all make a small mouth. The tongue needs lots of room to move around; if not, it drops back blocking the airway. Being tongue-tied also pushes the tongue to the back of the throat. A blocked nose results in the person breathing through their mouth. In children, mouthbreathing 24 hours a day worsens the proper development of the face and jaws, and exhausts them. Enlarged tonsils and allergies also prevent good air flow. Mouth-breathing and snoring are the two primary signs that the airway is blocked
