Airway and Jaw Development for Kids
Airway and Jaw Development for Kids
Understanding the early years of your child’s life is very important for their growth and development. By age 2, 53% of the upper and lower jaw growth has occurred and 80% of the size of the skull has developed, with the other 20% developing from age 2-17.
The remaining growth of the jaws and skull after the age of 2 is crucial and can mean the difference for that child of a life of health and vitality or a life wrought with illness, sickness, and chronic disease. As a matter of fact, airway growth continues after birth with diameter and length doubling or tripling until adulthood.
As children advance through a sequence of growth stages, proper nasal-breathing and tongue function is crucial for airway/jaw development and overall health. Normal, fully developed jaws will allow an anatomical structural form that can support a full set of teeth with no crowding or crookedness, no TMJ problems, a healthy oral airway, proper tongue space and an ideal craniofacial foundation for your child to thrive. This is where optimal health begins and these conditions perpetuate excellent health.
Unfortunately, due to soft diets, processed food, pollution, allergies, and other epigenetic factors, normal jaw growth is not very common today. Alarmingly, abnormal growth leading to underdeveloped jaws has become the norm. A mouth that is structurally impaired can result in mouth breathing, malocclusions and sleep breathing disorders resulting in poor health. Cognitive development , emotional and behavioral problems often seen in children are:
- Mouth breathing
- Snoring
- Black circles under eyes
- Chronic allergies, sinus infection, throat and ear infections
- Noisy breather
- Bedwetting
- Hyperactivity and ADD/ADHD
- Daytime sleepiness
- Morning headaches
The good news is that all the above symptoms can be successfully treated. Recognition and comprehensive evaluation of jaw growth issues and resulting airway problems early on is crucial in order to correct these developmental abnormalities and redirect growth for optimal function, comfort, health and beauty.
Now for the good news! Here at Impact Sleep Dentistry, Dr. Kashkouli recognizes the complex nature of jaw growth and development and sleep breathing disorders, and she believe that every patient presents with a unique history and clinical profile. She promotes overall wellness by educating patients about the mouth/airway connection and by treating the myriad of sleep disordered breathing conditions and dental illnesses that arise from the chronic epidemic of compromised jaw/mouth development.
Gaining an understanding of the importance of airway and jaw development is an important part of parenting, enabling parents to prepare and provide the proper care and attention their child needs.
Dr. Melika Kashkouli is proud of delivering the most effective non-surgical, non-invasive and non-pharmaceutical treatments to patients who are suffering from sleep disordered breathing, including mild-to-moderate sleep apnea. By collaborating with different professional healthcare providers, she can create a comprehensive multidisciplinary therapeutic approach and deliver an individual patient experience.
At Impact Sleep Dentistry, Dr. Melika Kashkouli takes a comprehensive approach to dental care. Beyond general dentistry, she understands the relationship between dental health, tongue position and swallow function, joint health, muscle function, occlusion, breathing, posture and many other factors which can lead to many systemic issues.