How Does An Oral Appliance Help Your Child Sleep?

When children don’t sleep as they should, they may experience trouble at school and home. In order to help kids enjoy a better night’s rest, we target the factors behind children’s breathing and sleep difficulties. How does an oral appliance help families in Livonia, MI? What should parents expect from this treatment option?

Signs of a Sleep Difficulties

The size and shape of oral structures, as well as the growth of the jaw, can sometimes impact a child’s ability to breathe a night. You may notice they exhibit shallow breathing, snoring, and periods of gasping for breath. Children with sleep disordered breathing also become restless at night, moving, tossing and turning, kicking, or even walking or talking while asleep. If your child exhibits these potential warning signs, then please let us know right away. You can also visit our website to take our Child Sleep Health Questionnaire, which asks a series questions about your child’s nighttime habits. This helps both you and our office gauge the severity of your child’s nighttime breathing issues.

The Impact of Poor Rest

Without rest, children may experience short tempers, have frequent tantrums, or fall behind in school work. They may miss common emotional milestones or even be misdiagnosed was having ADD or ADHD. Lack of rest may also mean fighting bedtime, having trouble going to sleep or waking up frequently in the night, napping or attempting to nap during the day at school. Don’t let your little one’s poor rest impact his or her overall quality of life, talk to our team about possible solutions.

Orthotropic Treatments

With orthotropics, we will take detailed impression of your child’s smile, which will help our team create a customized oral appliance. The device then fits comfortably and will be worn at night. Similar in appearance and fit as a nightguard, the device actually helps ensure open airways throughout the night by repositioning the jaw and oral structures. As your child grows, the device also helps shape and guide the growth and formation of the jaw and oral structures. In addition to better rest and a lowered risk of sleep apnea later in life, the device also helps improve dental alignment and facial structure. We will of course monitor your child’s progress and work with you to help address the issue. If you have any questions or concerns, then please feel free to contact our team today.

Does Your Child Need a Custom Aligner?

We offer custom-made solutions to help children enjoy better rest, as well as treatments for sleep apnea in the teen and adult years. James Stewart, DDS, and our team serve patients from Farmington Hills, Farmington, Plymouth, MI and the surrounding communities. To schedule a consultation, call our office today at (734) 425-4400.