When your child or family member develops airway related symptoms, for sure you take deep interest. Dentistry is on the front line of recognition while providing therapeutic intervention. Together, we provide effective resolutions to help children thrive. There is growing attention toward breathing and sleep-related disorders (SBD). Children with compromised respiratory airway function (SBD) develop distinctive altered facial and maxillo-mandibular disharmonies; adults can suffer serious related morbidity and mortality. Intervention in younger years presents unique opportunities to collaborate between dental/medical/allied specialties to prevent co-morbidities and improve a child's wellness, with quality life benefits. It is better to restore optimal health to a child, than to repair them as adults.

The greater need is for respiratory airway and breathing disorder screening with recognition/intervention for younger patients infancy thru teenage years for respiratory function, airway obstructive, inflammatory problems, sleep related disturbances, breathing/swallow/tongue and peri-oral muscle dysfunctions, and more. Let’s learn this new knowledge to discover early onset airway sleep problems, and effectively apply co-management integrative therapies.

Learning objectives and approaches include:

· Useful and practical clinical info to implement right away

· Youth/Pediatric Airway in-take screening and eval

· Genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors

· Structural / functional / obstructive / behavioral conditions

· Nasal breathing vs. destructive mouth-breathing

· Myofunctional: swallow, oral muscular posture, frenum issues

· Technologies, including CBCT and software renderings

· Prevent and intercept respiratory and sleep disorders earlier; prevent cascade of events with problems later

· Correction of concave and convex facial patterns and malocclusion

· Earlier therapeutic guidance appliances

· Wellness strategies and chewy diet

· Successful breathing and sleep disordered therapeutics

· Community/school fact sheets, public service info, podcasts