Dentist and Myofunctional Therapist vs. ENT? By: Dr. Nishita Ondhia

“My child is not breathing properly, they are snoring, grinding and is gasping for air. Doctor, what shall I do?” The family doctor may say, “Just wait, they will grow out of it.”  This is incorrect. If a child is struggle to breathe, they need medical attention from a team – the ENT, the airway dentist and a myofunctional therapist.

The primary health care physician may offer a sleep test; this is difficult for any child.  They may offer a referral to the ENT to assess airway patency, excellent. Unfortunately, they will not routinely offer a referral to a functional airway dentist with an interest in craniofacial development.  These dentist and their myofunctional therapists understand the importance of ideal oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange in growing patients, its effect on one’s overall health and that mouth breathing has negative affects of the growth of the face.  Airway dentists and their teams are interested in growing healthy faces.

With respect to maintaining airway patency, essentially promoting nose breathing, what is in the toolbox for the ENT, dentist and the myofunctional therapist?

The ENT will offer advice on tonsils and adenoids removal, correction of a deviated septum, reduction of the nasal turbinates, steroid use and nasal sprays.  With respect to correcting a deviated septum, they are limited to waiting until the child has grown (in the dental world, this it too late to address some of these concerns).

The Airway Dentist will offer functional appliances to promote proper tongue posture, expanding the palate (the floor of the nose) and will work with a myofunctional therapist (tongue physiotherapists) to set children on a good trajectory for proper craniofacial growth.

Which should you see first?  Ideally, they should be seen at the same time and they should be in communication to provide the best treatment for each individual patient. Everyone, the patient, the parent, the ENT and the airway dentist all want the same thing, nasal breathing.  We all want to establish healthy function to have a healthy life and a team effort with several areas of expertise is always ideal.

-Dr. Nishita Ondhia