Many parents are surprised to learn that common childhood behaviors such as snoring, mouth breathing, or even teeth grinding can be signs of disordered breathing during sleep. Disordered breathing can impact every aspect of a child’s life and it is best to address it as soon as possible to ensure a child’s success and wellness. With the Vivos treatment, children are able to be guided towards a path of natural growth and development, which in many instances can prevent children needing more invasive procedures, such as a tonsillectomy or a CPAP machine, in the future.
Children don’t always present sleep problems in obvious ways. Some of the most common signs include:
- Snoring or noisy breathing at night
- Frequent bed wetting
- Mouth breathing during the day or while sleeping
- Teeth grinding (bruxism)
- Enlarged tonsils or adenoids
- Tongue tie or poor tongue posture
- Gasping or pauses in breathing during sleep
- Falling asleep easily in the car or at school
- Struggling to focus in school or at home
- Constant allergy-like symptoms
The effects of getting poor sleep worsen with time. The brain uses sleep in order to do important tasks such as processing information collected throughout the day, regulating emotions, as well as growing and developing physically. When a child isn’t sleeping they are unable to unlock the information they take in at school or during the day, rendering that information essentially useless. This makes it almost impossible to learn during the most essential years. Children are also unable to regulate their emotions properly so they are more prone to tantrums or shutting down when faced with difficulties. This can also be seen as hyperactivity or non responsiveness during conversation or activities. On top of this, a child will be unable to grow and develop in their sleep leaving problems with weight regulation, bone growth, immune system strengthening and other essential physical development. Sleep is one of the most important things a child needs in order to grow and develop. When children struggle with disordered breathing, they are unable to achieve restorative sleep and are forgoing essential processes towards their future success.
Other issues families face when their child is struggling with disordered sleeping all surround their bedtime routine. When a child has a narrow airway leading to disordered sleep, the body will physically prevent the child from falling asleep as a survival mechanism. This manifests as an inability to fall asleep, making bedtime a laborious task for parents. If a bedtime routine can take hours, if a child moves from bed to bed during the night, or if a child wets the bed frequently, these are all signs that point towards disordered breathing. This can also be seen when a child grinds their teeth at night. When children grind their teeth, it makes a distinct scraping noise, similar to nails on chalkboard. When one child is struggling to sleep through the night, the entire household, by effect, struggles to sleep. This not only prevents growth and regulation in the child, but in the rest of the household.
Disordered sleep is also apparent during the school day. When a child is unable to focus in class, falls asleep in the afternoon, or struggles to take in information learned during the day, these signs point towards a lack of restorative sleep. Teachers will be the first to point out a child that is struggling in the classroom. Children that are disruptive, struggling to grasp tasks such as reading and writing, or struggling socially, teachers will take note of these issues. Many children struggling to achieve restorative sleep may present symptoms similar to those with ADHD, but the root of the issue is entirely different.
Historically, treatment for pediatric sleep apnea has focused on symptom management—often through tonsil and adenoid removal or rapid palate expansion (RPE). While these approaches can provide short-term relief, they don’t always address the underlying cause of airway restriction. Irritated tonsils and adenoids are typically caused by mouth breathing. By breathing through the nose, the nasal airway is able to introduce nitric oxide into the air, which essentially filters it. However, when the airway is restricted, the jaw is underdeveloped, or if the palette is narrow, a child may resort to breathing through their mouth in order to compensate. Mouth breathing bypasses these defenses, delivering cooler, unfiltered, and drier air, which can increase risks of infection and reduce oxygen absorption efficiency. This unfiltered air enters the body, irritating the tonsils and adenoids and also producing persistent allergy-like symptoms. Many pediatricians and ENT’s are not properly trained in disordered sleeping, leading to care that is based around solving the immediate symptoms rather than the root cause.
When Dr. Stock first discovered Vivos— she was unaware of disordered breathing, but was immediately able to recognize symptoms in the people around her, especially her own children. A growth-focused approach, such as Vivos-guided treatment, takes a different path. Instead of forcing rapid changes that solve temporary symptoms, it uses slower, controlled expansion to guide natural jaw and airway development. These appliances are designed to be non-invasive, gradually encouraging proper tongue posture, nasal breathing, and balanced facial growth. By focusing on causing change in earlier years and guiding natural growth in the right direction, it is also significantly more comfortable for those going through the process. Vivos can be started as early as three and a half and can provide significant development all the way through age twelve. In comparison to something like a rapid palate expander that is cemented in the mouth, Vivos can be taken out, it does not leave scar tissue, and it does not force the mouth and palette into unnatural shapes.
Alongside the Vivos growth guides, Dr. Stock pairs her treatments with myofunctional therapies to assist growth even further. Myofunctional therapy trains the muscles in the mouth and tongue to solve issues while eating, sleeping, swallowing, and more. Alongside Vivos growth guides, these therapies are able to solve symptoms such as mouth breathing, teeth grinding, mouth posture, tongue posture, and some speech issues. Dr. Stock is interested in caring for the whole patient, not just one issue they may be having.
Traditional treatments tend to begin when children are past their peak developmental stages, usually by age twelve. By addressing airway issues early on, children can grow into the facial and skeletal development they were meant to have naturally. When you wait until adolescence, treatments offered tend to be more invasive, more painful, and less effective in the long term. Many short term solutions, like braces or palette expanders, don’t provide true expansion either. These methods are restrictive by nature and will not help in developing a child’s airway to the point of not needing further intervention later in life. Many kids who were put in braces end up in a CPAP machine later in life because their airways were never able to be properly expanded and developed and their disordered sleeping persists into their adulthood, even if their teeth appear to be straightened out.
Child airway treatment isn’t just about reducing snoring—it’s about supporting the whole child. By recognizing early signs of sleep-disordered breathing and addressing the root causes rather than only the symptoms, we can help children breathe and sleep better.
If you or your child struggle with disordered sleeping or breathing, reach out to Smile Brookline to book an appointment with Dr. Sara Stock. Offices are open Monday through Saturday and appointments can be booked online or over the phone. Don’t wait to take your first steps towards easier breathing, restorative sleep, and a better future.
Smile Brookline: Dr. Sara Stock DDS
1425 Beacon St, Brookline, MA 02446
www.smilebrookline.com
617-731-3364
