KIDS APNEA.COM The website of Allen J.Moses, DDS
CONSEQUENCES OF KID'S APNEA
In children some of the morbid consequences associated with sleep disordered breathing are:
- Increased incidence of upper respiratory infections
- Neurobehavioral problems
- Failure to thrive
- Underdevelopment of the face and jaws
- Cardiovascular problems
- Children usually do not display sleepiness. They act out their tiredness with inappropriate emotional behavior.
- Kids' attention spans are extremely short
- Kids' school performance falls off
- Cognitive development is slow
- Motor development skills are delayed
Consequences however are different than causes
- Successful treatment is addressed at both causes and consequences
- Treatment directed at causes involves effective prevention and correction of abnormal posture and functions of the mouth, tongue and face, and their relationships with breathing, the dentition, speech and feeding
BAD LIP POSTURE
Note how the lower jaw is retruded behind the upper teeth and lip. Lower jaw retrusion reduces space for the tongue and forces it to intrude into the oral airway. There are therapists for re-educating the lip posture and swallow and orthodontic devices to stimulate mandibular growth.
