Sleep Apnea and Its Impact on Behavior of Children

It is a well-known fact how good the night sleep is for overall health. After a good night sleep, you feel focused, energized and capable of doing everything that comes up during the day. However, the bad news is that many people, now a day, are unable to have good night sleep mainly due to the breathing problems while sleeping. The most commonly known disorder is known as sleep apnea. This problem is associated with the expansion of soft tissues back in the throat. This expansion leads to blockage of airway. As a result, the person cannot breathe well while sleeping. The interruptions in sleep due troubled breathing usually go unnoticed. However, it results in drowsiness during day time. This problem in children makes them lethargic during the day time. Many times, the children are mistakenly diagnosed with ADHD.

The connection between sleep apnea and behavioral disorders has been mentioned in many studies. There was a study published in Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The lead researcher of study, Dr. Karen Bonuck, said, “We found that children with sleep-disordered breathing were from 40 to 100 percent more likely to develop neurobehavioral problems by age 7, compared with children without breathing problems. The biggest increase was in hyperactivity, but we saw significant increases across [other] behavioral measures.” Hence, it is quite essential to diagnose children’s behavioral problem correctly. While a pediatric specialist may be able to diagnose sleep apnea correctly, the right treatment comes from a dentist.

Now, you may wonder what can be done to open the airway in order to treat this specific issue. The common treatment mainly involves removal of excess tissues of tonsils or adenoids. This surgical treatment is mainly carried out by an oral or maxillofacial surgeon. These people are the specialist who would do years of surgical training after completing their main course of dentistry. In addition to this, there are numerous other procedures which can open the airway.

Expansion of palate is another option to open the airways. This treatment is not a surgical one. It is rather an orthodontic treatment. During this treatment, a palate expander is fitted in the palate of the child. This expander is commonly used for prevention of teeth crowding but it had been found very effective in opening the airflow as well.

Another treatment involves wearing of an appliance during sleep. This appliance resembles a mouth guard. This appliance is worn for the purpose of keeping everything in oral cavity in an ideal position.

If your child has been diagnosed with sleep apnea, it would be the best practice to stick to the treatment plan suggested by your dentist.