Goals in Early Mulitidisciplinary Airway Intervention By: Dr. Nishita Ondhia

Common signs and symptoms of airway issues, and thus sleep disordered breathing (SDB) and/or sleep apnea (OSA),  are mouth breathing, snoring, grinding, restless sleep, ADHD symptoms, bedwetting, focus issues, night terrors and frequent ear infections.

What does the face of someone struggling with SDB/OSA look like? The face height is long, the prominence of the nose is decreased, the width of the nose is decreased, the upper jaw is small and the lower jaw is sitting in a backwards position.

The best route of helping with SDB?OSA  is to intervene early.  It is a multidisciplinary approach and the role of the dental professional is to help with the anatomy, the foundation of the airway via early interventional orthodontics.

If left untreated, these above symptoms develop into sleep apnea in adults.  Often, adults with SDB/OSA have many health issues and have poor overall health and wellness.

Goals in Early Mulitdisciplary Intervention for SDB/OSA:

 

1. Establish Nasal Breathing

2.  Establish proper tongue posture, strength, swallowing and speech with the help of Myofunctional therapy

3.  Eliminate Bad Habits

4.  Guide Craniofaical development

5.  Create Space for the tongue by addressing the discrepancy between the tooth size and the arch width size

6.  Correcting jaw relationships early

7. Address blockages in the airway with medical specialists

8.  Address Speech concerns with Speech Therapists.

 

– Dr. Nishita Ondhia