A COMPREHENSIVE, NATURAL AND HOLISTIC APPROACH

Children's jaws and airways develop rapidly in the early years (with significant growth by around age 6–8). Poor oral habits (e.g., mouth breathing, tongue thrust, low tongue posture), tethered tissues, or underdeveloped jaws can restrict airway space, lead to crowded teeth, affect facial balance, and contribute to issues like snoring, restless sleep, behavioral challenges, or long-term health concerns.

We focus on form follows function: optimizing muscle function, tongue posture, nasal breathing, and jaw growth to create space for teeth, support proper craniofacial development, and promote better breathing and sleep.

• Comprehensive Evaluation: Includes clinical exam, history, airway assessment, and imaging as needed (e.g., CBCT for craniofacial and airway insights).
• Personalized Treatment Plan: Combining myofunctional therapy, releases (if needed), expansion, and/or guided appliances based on the child's unique needs.
• Multidisciplinary Collaboration: We work with myofunctional therapists, ENTs, chiropractors (e.g., atlas orthogonal), and others for optimal results.
• Ongoing Monitoring and Education: Regular follow-ups, parent involvement, and resources to support at-home habits.
• Focus on Long-Term Health: Better breathing, sleep, growth, neurocognitive development, and reduced risk of future issues.

Each child receives a comprehensive assessment and all needs are weighed.  It is our goal to work as a collaborative team to provide the excellent care that your child deserves.  

When jaws are narrow, we use expansion techniques to create more space, improve bite alignment, and enlarge the nasal and oral airways.

Benefits:

• Increases room for permanent teeth, often reducing or avoiding extractions and extensive future orthodontics.
• Widens the nasal cavity floor, supporting better nasal airflow and potentially easing breathing/sleep issues.
• Promotes balanced facial growth and a broader, more aesthetic smile and profile.
• Can be combined with other therapies for comprehensive results.

We tailor expansion to the child's age, needs, and growth stage for safe, effective outcomes. By expanding not only the upper but also lower jaws we can optimize total expansion and reduce relapse that may occur when upper expansion is performed alone.

These non-invasive, removable appliances work with natural growth to address underlying causes rather than just symptoms.

VIVOS Guides:

• Custom-designed to guide jaw development, promote nasal breathing, and create space for teeth.
• Worn primarily at night (and as tolerated) to support proper tongue posture and arch development.
• Helps with issues like crowding, open bites, crossbites, and airway support.

Myobrace:

• Combines gentle forces with myofunctional activities to correct habits, widen arches, and align teeth/jaws naturally.
• Ideal for ages 3–15; includes educational exercises for breathing, tongue position, and swallowing.
• Supports preventive orthodontics and long-term stability.

These appliances are comfortable, promote function, and fit seamlessly into a child's routine.  These are used in conjunction with myofunctional therapy to help develop proper oral habits that promote better growth and breathing.

Myofunctional therapy involves targeted exercises to strengthen orofacial muscles (tongue, lips, cheeks) and retrain healthy patterns for breathing, swallowing, and resting posture.

Key Benefits for Children:

• Promotes nasal breathing and proper tongue posture (tongue resting on the roof of the mouth).
• Improves lip seal, swallowing, and speech.
• Supports airway patency, reduces mouth breathing, and can help alleviate symptoms of sleep-disordered breathing (e.g., better oxygen saturation, less snoring).
• Aids in habit correction (thumb sucking, tongue thrust) and complements other treatments for lasting results.
• Enhances craniofacial growth and can improve overall energy, focus, and development.

We often collaborate with or recommend myofunctional therapists as part of a multidisciplinary plan.

Restricted frenulums (tongue-tie/ankyloglossia, lip-tie, buccal ties) can limit tongue mobility, impair breastfeeding/latching (in infants), affect swallowing, speech, oral posture, and contribute to poor jaw development or airway issues.

Our Approach:

• Thorough evaluation of function and symptoms (not just appearance).
• Gentle CO2 laser frenectomy when indicated—quick, precise, with minimal discomfort and fast healing.
• Pre- and post-release myofunctional therapy to ensure proper healing, function, and integration with growth guidance.

Releasing these ties can improve feeding, speech, breathing, and set the stage for better jaw and airway development.