Kids dental health is heavily influenced by their sleep.
Let me describe a very common presentation in children’s dentistry. It happens so much, you could almost consider it normal. I see many, many kids present for a dental exam with sleep apnea symptoms.
When they walk into the surgery, the first thing I see is a thin face. Their lower jaw is set back, and their chin is retruded. They have a skinny mid-face, open mouth at rest (indicating mouth breathing).
They look tired, and their nose is stuffy, they have dark circles or venous pooling under the eyes. Their lips are cracked and dry and they have a slouched forward posture.
Once we get in the dental chair, it’s common to see teeth grinding. When we talk about sleeping habits, their parents often say they notice them snoring or bedwetting.
Close to 1 in 3 kids suffer from some level of sleep disorder. Up to 70% of these are unnoticed. About 15% of kids snore. Many parents are unsure about whether their kids have sleep disorders (snoring or not).
Other sleep apnea symptoms in kids include:
- Daytime tiredness
- Small jaw
- High palate
- Allergies
- Sinus or nasal congestion
- Swollen tonsils
- Childhood obesity
- Headaches
- Poor school marks
- Crankiness or short temper.
- Behavioral disorders
- Bed-wetting
- Restless sleep or kicking sheets during the night
- Sleepwalking or acting out dreams
Studies are now showing kids with sleep disorders can harm their brain growth. Areas of the brain that control thinking and problem-solving are smaller in kids with sleep apnea.
Sleep disorders often begin with mouth breathing
Your kids should be breathing through their nose. Mouth breathing does not deliver adequate oxygen to their body. Young developing bodies and brains are oxygen hungry, which is why the impact on a child’s health can be severe.
Nasal breathing creates nitrous oxide in the nose which increases oxygen perfusion. It drives blood flow to the lungs by increasing blood flow, oxygen, and CO2 levels. It also slows the breathing rate and improves overall lung volumes.
Nitric oxide is not produced if kids aren’t nose-breathing. Kids who mouth breathe, receive cold, unfiltered air that delivers little oxygen.
One of the most obvious signs of mouth breathing is crooked teeth. Children with high palates have small nasal sinuses. Airflow through the nose is impaired, and mouth breathing can occur, especially during sleep.
Kids brain development and sleep disorders
Kid’s sleep disorders and snoring can directly impact brain development. Sleep is the time where the brain grows and regenerates. During childhood, crucial neural stages occur during sleep.
Sleep disorders are more common in special needs kids, psychiatric disorders or autism.
A lack of oxygen during sleep will starve a child’s brain. Not only does the amount of sleep matter, but the quality of sleep. Oxygen deprivation sends the brain into survival mode, robbing it of proper growth.
Snoring and sleep disorders cause the release of stress hormones. This can be in response to airway closure that increases breathing pressure.
From ages 0-6 the brain is going through remarkable growth. By age six, the brain is at 95% of adult brain weight and peak energy consumption.
But up to age twelve, the brain is undergoing critical developmental stages.
Between ages six to twelve, neural connections become more complex and adult-like. From ages 8-11 for example, future IQ will be influenced by learning music.
Negative factors such as bullying and abuse during these years can inhibit brain development.
Behavior and sleep disorders
ADHD is commonly associated with sleep disorders. However, the relationship is complex and bidirectional.
Studies show suggest about 5% of all children suffer obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). OSA is the most severe form of sleep disorders.
It’s defined by pauses in breathing or ‘apneas.’ Apneas expose the brain to lack of oxygen for short periods. The child either wakes up, or the brain opens the airway by teeth grinding.
One study compared brains of kids between 7 and 11 years old with and without sleep disorders. Kids with OSA had decreased gray matter volume measured in the brain. These control cognition and mood. They also showed shrinking in areas involved in thinking and problem-solving.
Sleep apnea symptoms in kids can be improved by increasing airway size. Removing tonsils and adenoids may improve children’s school performance in kids with ADHD. As well as behavior and sleep-related issues. Evidence in this area is mixed, and experts don’t yet agree on its overall impact on cognition.
Healthy kids sleep needs healthy teeth, jaw, and airways
The evidence is mounting on the importance of breathing for healthy kids development. Sleep apnea symptoms have close links to a decrease in brain development in kids.
Like adult sleep disorders, diagnosis in kids is difficult. A high number of sleep disorders, don’t test positive for OSA.
The number of kids with upper airway resistance syndrome is not well understood.
Better sleep for healthy kids
More research is needed, but experts agree that healthy kids need to sleep better. Many kids show signs of sleep disorders such as snoring or teeth grinding.
If you think your kid has sleep apnea symptoms, consult your GP or Dentist right away.
Have you spotted sleep apnea symptoms in your kids? Share your experiences in the comment section below.
For more information on Dr. Lin’s clinical protocol that highlights the steps parents can take to prevent dental problems in their children: Click here.
Want to know more? Dr Steven Lin’s book, The Dental Diet, is available to order today. An exploration of ancestral medicine, the human microbiome and epigenetics it’s a complete guide to the mouth-body connection. Take the journey and the 40-day delicious food program for life-changing oral and whole health.
Click below to order your copy now:
US AMAZON
US Barnes & Noble
UK AMAZON
Australia BOOKTOPIA
Canada INDIGO
5 Responses
My 5 year old son has these symptoms, nasal congestion (everyday he sneezes so much in the morning), headaches, bed wetting, and it looks like his adult teeth won’t have much space to come through as his baby teeth are very close together – is it better to see a dentist or a GP about this?
Hi Tina, an airway focussed dentist would be best to assess airways and possible breathing expansion therapy if necessary. A GP who works with a sleep physician and ENT is also preferable to get to the bottom of the airway issue
My daughter was diagnosed with sleep apnea at 14 months. She had never slept well, was constantly mouth breathing, had severe reflux from birth, restless sleeping and she and I were exhausted. She had her adenoids removed in Feb of this year, and whilst she is now a deeper sleeper, before she would wake if a pin dropped, in general in has not improved. We are 8 months post op and she had been mouth breathing in all her sleep again and during the day. We have another sleep study in two weeks and at the moment, they are recommending that if the results show her apnea is present, (it is I hear her gasping and coughing through out the night), they will remove her tonsils. I am finding it very difficult at the moment, she has stopped sleeping during the day, is up multiple times a night, she looks exhausted yet is super hyper, and her meltdowns are difficult. I am really worried about her development and unsure of whether to put her through another operation, when the first has not worked. I have an open bite, grind my teeth and had lots of the symptoms described above. So I wonder if she has this from me. She has now stopped sleeping during the day, if I do manage to get her down she will sleep for four plus hours and cry to sleep more when I try and wake her. It’s having a very negative effect on the whole family. I spend a lot of time being worried about her.
Hi there,
First of all you’re doing a great job caring for your child. I would see an airway focused dentist to check oral habits and an myofunctional therapist to recorrect her habits. Also get her Vitamin D levels.
Here are some home exercises to get started!
https://www.drstevenlin.com/home-exercise-program-prevent-braces-kids/
Hope this helps
Dr Steven Lin
I never knew that sleep apnea in young kids can lead to poor school grades. My wife really wants all of our kids to get good grades so they can get good jobs in the future. If any of them start to have trouble sleeping, I will be sure to take them to a doctor as soon as we can!