When should I start focusing on airway health?
Understanding Airway Health: Why Early Intervention Matters for Children and Adults
Airway health has become one of the most important topics in modern dentistry. For years, we’ve known that sleep apnea is connected to major health concerns like acid reflux, stroke, and heart attack. What we’re now understanding more clearly is how early these issues can begin—and how powerfully dentists can help identify and address the root causes before long-term health effects show up.
The Growing Concern: Small Airways and Childhood Development
Research shows that up to 90% of children exhibit at least one sign of disordered breathing.
That number is staggering, especially when we consider the rise in:
• ADD/ADHD
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Behavioral struggles
• Bedwetting
• Chronic tiredness disguised as “hyperactive” behavior
Many of these issues may be connected to something surprisingly simple: lack of oxygen during sleep.
Children don’t always appear sleepy when tired. Instead, they often become hyperactive, and for decades this behavior was assumed to be psychological. Today, we realize it may be their body’s response to fragmented sleep and poor oxygenation.
Improper development of the jaws, airway, and tongue function shows up early. Dentists are now trained to recognize problems such as:
• Tongue-tie
• Tongue thrust
• Improper swallowing patterns
• Narrowed arches
• Mouth breathing
• Poor lip seal
Why Early Detection Matters for Lifelong Wellness
Airway health has become one of the most important topics in modern dentistry. For years, sleep apnea was linked to conditions like acid reflux, stroke, and heart disease. Now, dental professionals understand something even more impactful:
Airway problems often begin in childhood — and early intervention can change the entire course of a person’s health.
Many of these behaviors may be related to lack of oxygen while sleeping, not psychological issues.
When these patterns show up in childhood and go unaddressed, the jaws often develop too small. This contributes to:
• Poor sleep
• Struggle to focus
• Behavioral challenges
• Crooked teeth
• Long-term breathing issues
- Susan