Pediatric Sleep Apnea

Recently, I had lunch with a new orthodontist and the subject of pediatric sleep apnea came up. There is a lot of smoke but very little fire on this subject.

We would all love to be able to expand the arches, yes both arches, and turn a mouthbreathing, poor sleeping, underachieving 8 year old into a world class athlete with Einstein level smarts.

There are some published articles on this subject but not a lot.  Patients with posterior cross bites tend to respond well to this kind of treatment.  What we all want if for patients without posterior cross bites to also respond well to this kind of treatment and that is where the science stops.

Schein wants you to buy an iCat and they encourage you to take their airway course and invest in that kind of technology.  Again, not a lot of research supports what the iCat images say.  And interestingly, a good percentage of pediatric airway patients improve spontaneously without treatment within 12 months of diagnosis.

The best material on this subject, if you want actual evidence, can be found on Kevin O'Brien's blog.

1.

http://kevinobrienorthoblog.com/breath-breath-air-dont-afraid-care-sleep-disordered-breathing-orthodontic-treatment-part-1/

2.

http://kevinobrienorthoblog.com/breathing-influence-facial-growth/

3.

http://kevinobrienorthoblog.com/breathe-breathe-in-the-air-part-3-orthodontic-treatment-cure-childhood-breathing-problems/