You are an Airway Dentist? What is that? By: Dr. Nishita Ondiha

After practicing clinical dentistry for 27 years, patterns relating to oral health begin to present themselves.  Reflecting on these repeating health concerns, the model of modern dentistry is changing and is becoming more preventative and airway centric.

The large majority of dental issues result, over time, due to horizontal/traumatic forces on the teeth.  In other words, the teeth are not in the right spot for ideal function; there is malocclusion.

If the body wants to be healthy, it does, then why are we even having problems with malocclusion?  Why are teeth not in the correct position?  After all, good occlusion is what mother nature desires for survival, it is what our DNA codes.

Teeth cannot come into one’s mouth properly because we do not have enough room.

Why do we not have enough room, because the anatomy of our jaws are not large enough and their relationship to one another is not ideal.

Why is the anatomy compromised?  Because we are not using our tongues properly, we are not swallowing properly.

Why are we not swallowing properly?  We are mouth breathing.

Why are we mouth breathing, because we are compensating for the fact that we cannot breathe via our noses.

Why can we not breathe via our noses?  There is usually a blockage in the airway, a collapse of the soft palate or a collapse as the base of the tongue.

Why the blockage?  Because we are mouth breathing.

When we mouth breathe, we cannot use our tongue to help shape the face and jaws.

When our jaws are not formed properly, there is not room for our teeth.

When there is no room for our teeth, we have malocclusion.

When we have malocclusion, we have problems with our teeth.  We get cracks, recession, cavities, TMJ problems etc.

And the cycle continues.

As an Airway Dentist, we specialize in the connection between oral and facial structures and breathing.  We assess how the teeth, the jaws, the tongue and surrounding muscles impact the airway and breathing patterns.

Left untreated at a young age, mouth breathing leads to sleep apnea,

The goal is always to re-establish nasal breathing.

-Dr. Nishita Ondhia