What is Airway Orthodontics?
Integrative Orthodontics Is a complex practice philosophy where we look at the entirety of your health - not just your teeth. Sometimes referred to as “airway focused” orthodontics, we take it a step further.
A growing mountain of scientific evidence says that there are no genes for crooked teeth. Our bodies are reacting to stressors caused by our modern diets, our lifestyles, and from our "industrial" environment. These adaptive responses have a genetic component to them, which is why families still share similar appearances. Crooked teeth and misaligned jaws are signs of significant issues that our brain and bodies are attempting to cope with. If we evaluate and address the negative changes in the way our faces (and ourselves as a whole) are developing, we can restore balance and eliminate deficiencies in the way our faces grow, the way our airways develop, and also allow teeth to align in the most ideal manner. That is some of what Integrative Orthodontics (IO) is about.
Benefits of Airway Orthodontics
Prevention
Helps to prevent deficient (or sometimes excess) facial growth, disturbed sleep and crooked teeth, if started early, by restoring airways, balancing facial structural growth, and restoring normal functional patterns. These issues affect the entire body and can even disturb normal cognitive development.
Health
We just don’t treat the symptoms, we look for the cause of your child’s problems and treat them effectively. Head postures are automatically altered in order to open inadequate airways, this changes entire body postures, in order to maintain balance. These can’t return to normal until airways are structurally improved. We do that non-surgically, using gentle orthodontic techniques.
Facial Growth
The shape of the face affects our appearance, our teeth, and our breathing passages, day and night. We influence and change facial growth from the beginning, so children receive health and aesthetic benefits for life. These changes can also be made in adults.
Integrative
Using varied “in house” and referred healthcare providers, we address multiple aspects of good health. These include tongue posture, breathing, eating, body posture, airways, and sleep. We create beautiful smiles AND more balanced attractive faces.
Symptoms We Treat
- Crooked teeth
- Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea
- Mouth Breathing
- Forward Head Posture
- Pseudo or misdiagnosed ADHD
- Orthodontic Relapse cases
- Abnormal facial growth/development
- Tongue Ties
- “I just don’t like my smile”
- TMJ issues not resolved with appliances
Consequences of NOT Treating
- ADHD like symptoms
- Increasing tooth crowding
- Scoliosis
- Chronic Pain issues
- Anxiety or Depression
- Abnormal facial growth and deformity
- Periodontal disease
- Loss of ability to chew correctly
- Increased pain of face, jaw or neck
- Poor nasal breathing
- Asthma
Deficient Airway
Excellent Airway
Why Choose Us Over Traditional Orthodontics
A great smile shouldn’t be the only goal for orthodontic treatment. Along with achieving that amazing smile there should also be the understanding that orthodontic treatment can and should be you or your child’s best opportunity for the longest possible, healthy, pain free life. Thoughtful, in-depth analysis of you or your child’s anatomy, breathing, physiology and neurology is the only way to accurately plan for the best treatment options. Straightening teeth and making a beautiful smile is the easy part and is usually the only thing considered in traditional orthodontic treatment. Skeletal changes that are actually needed are usually not found in most traditional orthodontic treatment. Conventional orthodontic treatment plans do not account for proper breathing, improvements in posture and in the spine, along with the neurological balance and muscle function that are necessary to ensure whole body wellness and even unimpaired brain function.
Adults
Adults may feel that their orthodontic options are very limited, due to the fact that their face is no longer growing. Adults may also feel that some corrections they’d like to have accomplished are no longer possible. Perhaps you previously had orthodontic treatment but have some relapse, or actually weren’t happy with the outcome of treatment. Dr. Lipskis has refined and developed techniques, using gentle forces, that can grow new bone and correct skeletal and airway deficiencies, even in patients who are no longer growing. This allows for improving facial esthetics, along with a dazzling smile in adults too! Clear/tooth colored braces can also be an option in these cases.
Dr. Lipskis is also Certified in techniques like Invisalign. For simpler dental corrections, or for those who lost their retainers after previous orthodontic treatment and have had some shifting of teeth, Dr. Lipskis can evaluate your smile for simpler options that would resolve those cosmetic and hygiene problems.
Children
Orthodontics with a focus on correcting impaired breathing is a necessary part of the cure for children who snore or have apnea and can prevent these issues in children who are at risk for developing these problems. Studies demonstrate that 70% of children who snore have Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). Children with OSA are frequently misdiagnosed as having ADHD and are unnecessarily placed on medication, when in fact their problems are being caused by disturbed and inadequate sleep.
Dr. Lipskis can evaluate the need to intercept the abnormal growth patterns that are developing from disturbed breathing patterns, including mouth breathing. Due to the continuous growth in children, it is easier to correct deficient skeletal development to guide them to grow in the most favorable manner. Our treatment provides the best opportunity for ideal balance, posture, internal wellness, and unimpeded cognitive development as early as is possible.
The Myobrace® System
The Myobrace® System utilizes a series of both removable oral appliances, called “Trainers”, and Myofunctional Training Exercises to help your child grow, breathe and sleep better by dealing with the underlying issues that can cause “crooked teeth” and “narrow palates” in the first place – resulting in not only a beautiful smile but also a healthy body. Studies indicate that a child’s facial and dental development can be significantly impacted by the use of airway centered orthodontic treatments. These treatments, when combined with myofunctional training, work to establish proper nasal breathing, proper lip seal, proper tongue position and correct swallowing patterns.
The position and shape of the teeth and jaws has also been connected to sleep disorders such as snoring and sleep apnea, conditions which affect millions of people of all ages. Receiving early treatment, between the ages of 3-10 years, when a child’s face and airway is at the height of its development, offer the best results and lifelong benefits to both dental and overall health. The earlier treatment starts, the less costly and more conservative overall treatment can be. In fact, most kids that start treatment early, DO NOT NEED “BRACES.”
BENEFITS OF THE MYOBRACE® SYSTEM:
- Uses light forces to naturally align the teeth and re-train the oral-facial muscles to function properly
- Unlike traditional orthodontics, Myobrace® is not worn all the time
- Allows patients to easily brush and floss your teeth
- No dietary restrictions
- Teaches proper nasal breathing, proper tongue placement and correct swallowing patterns
- Encourages proper airway development
How Myobrace® Works
Children can use the Myobrace while they still have baby teeth. Myobrace® removable orthodontic “trainers” need to be worn for 1-2 hours during the day and while sleeping at night, EVERYDAY for effective treatment. The Myobrace® trainers are a series of 3 different trainers (4 in the Teen Series) that work on habit correction, jaw expansion and retention and are specially sized and designed based on your child’s age and treatment needs. Working to develop the jaws, open the airway, and move teeth into proper alignment, the Myobrace® appliance is used together with daily breathing, tongue and facial exercises to create new muscle memory patterns, correct poor myofunctional habits and establish healthy nasal breathing.
The length and success of Myobrace® treatment is heavily dependent on PATIENT COMPLIANCE. Typical treatment requires the patient wear the trainer for 1-2 hours every day while sleeping and to follow the fun and easy program of myofunctional training exercises. The average treatment time will vary, but is generally around 18 months.
In general, the EARLIER YOU START TREATMENT with Myobrace®, the LESS INVASIVE and LESS COMPLICATED TREATMENT WILL BE.
We provide a COMPLIMENTARY MYOBRACE® CONSULTATION for anyone interested in learning more about Myobrace®, how it works and how it can benefit your child.