TO YOUR HEALTH Sleep Disordered Breathing: A Children’s Health Concern BY SHERI SALARTASH, DDS
An individual’s sleep cycle is influenced by stress, hormone imbal - ances, nutrition, level of exercise, blood sugar balance, sleep hygiene, genetic variables, neurological problems, traumas, medical disorders, medications, and structural imbalances. Conversely, poor sleep quali- ty can exacerbate these and other existing health conditions, and gen- erally impacts health and wellness negatively. A critical sleep disorder called sleep apnea causes breathing inter- ruptions while a person is asleep. Undiagnosed sleep apnea patients repeatedly stop breathing as they sleep, sometimes hundreds of times in a night. Due to insufficient oxygen delivery to the body and brain, this is a serious condition. A headache upon waking, elevated blood pressure, snoring, gasping for air, severely worn teeth, acid reflux, and teeth grinding are a few symptoms of sleep apnea. Untreated obstructive sleep apnea is linked to sudden death, mental disorders, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, daytime sleepiness, and cognitive difficulties. Children are especially vulnerable when their sleep routines are disrupted.The quality of a child’s sleep has a direct impact on how they mature and grow. And children and parents deal with a variety of symptoms every day as a result of poor sleep. Of the many possible contributing factors, a currently often-overlooked diagnosis is child- hood sleep disordered breathing (SDB). In this instance, the amount of oxygen a child has access to at night, which is associated with the upper and lower jaws developing to their maximum potential, has an impact on the quality of the child’s sleep. Therefore, health care pro - viders from all around the nation are collaborating to spread aware- ness of this debilitating condition.
SDB: A Children’s Health Epidemic It appears that todays’ children are increasingly experiencing be - havioral issues, allergies, ADHD, or other difficulties. A growing pro - portion of kids struggle with one or more of the following issues: • Bed wetting • ADD/ADHD • Delayed Speech • Obesity • Learning difficulties As a result, children are more likely to be taking daily medications to treat these conditions. However, many of these health concerns may just be signs of easily treatable deformities and dysfunctions in the child’s oral and facial structure. Dental health care experts are work - ing to broaden the conversation to include sleep disordered breathing as another underlying possibility to explore before pharmaceutical in- tervention becomes necessary. There are 2 types of Sleep Disordered Breathing: type-1 SDB, when the throat’s airway is impacted; and type-2 SDB, when the nasal air - ways are impacted. Due to the tongue’s impact on growth and/or de - velopment, these are the two main places in the structure of the face and mouth that become obstructed. Diagnoses should be done by a healthcare practitioner trained in sleep medicine; but in addition to any structural abnormalities with the face or mouth, and the presence of any of the issues listed above, other associated symptoms to look for include: mouth breathing, dark circles under the eyes, allergies, continued on page 68 • • • • Vertigo/clumsiness Teeth grinding Daytime sleepiness Nightmares, anxiety attacks
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PATHWAYS—Spring 23—67
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