Case A
An open airway is very important for a child’s health. This patient’s mom reported that the patient was snoring from the moment her mom brought her home from the hospital. She reported that when the child would see her regular dentist, they would call everyone over to look at her child’s tonsils. The child’s smile began to become “gummy” and the child had forward head posture. After a clinical exam, it was shown that the child could not nasal breathe because her airway was obstructed in the area of her adenoids and tonsils. Dr. Lindsey sent a referral to the ENT for adenoid and tonsils removal. Then the child went through myofunctional therapy with a myofunctional appliance to train the child how to nasal breathe and position their oral muscles. The child’s face growth normalized and became much more esthetic and healthy.

Case B
This child presented with an underdeveloped chin, overbite and forward head posture. A functional orthopedic appliance (twin block) to develop her jaws was made. Once expansion was started, the patient transitioned into a myofunctional orthodontic appliance with myofunctional therapy to learn to nasal breathe and where to position her oral muscles (lips, tongue, cheeks). The child’s face developed into a straight, esthetic profile with healthy breathing. This child is much less likely to have headaches or sleep disordered breathing as an adult.

Case C
The child presented with regular headaches, a large overbite, straight teeth and forward head posture. As you can see her lowr jaw was back significantly. This compressed her TMJs, thereby compressing nerves and arteries which resulted in daily debilitating headaches that made the child miss her daily activities. A functional orthopedic appliance to develop and reposition her lower jaw was made (twin block). The child had complete resolution of her headaches. The teeth were moved with orthodontics (braces) to fit together with the jaw in the pain-free/TMJ-decompressed position. The child has been pain free ever since. She is now an adult without headaches. She is much less likely to have sleep disordered breathing as an adult because of this treatment.