On the blog we’ve talked about Vivos Craniofacial appliances often. Today, we want to focus on HealthyStart®. HealthyStart® for kids is a non-invasive, painless way to correct the oral contributions to sleep and breathing disorders including straightening crowded and crooked teeth. For over 50 years, Healthy Start has helped over 4 million kids around the world get the teeth of their dreams plus better sleep.
HealthyStart® is designed to address and treat symptoms of crooked teeth early to prevent future, more serious issues from occurring. Children between the ages of 2 and 7 are the best candidates for HealthyStart® but can even be used for adults. In addition to straightening teeth, HealthyStart® helps to form good lifelong habits, like deep, nasal breathing and proper tongue placement.
What Happened to Our Teeth?
As many as 75% of children could benefit from braces. But why have teeth issues like overbite, underbite, and overcrowding become so common nowadays?
A lot of it has to do with our diet, breast feeding, and tongue placement. In the past, mothers breastfed their children for about two years. Interestingly, the natural shape of the breast is what helps promote good breathing and proper tongue placement. The tongue should naturally rest on the roof of the mouth, and breathing should be deep and through the nose.
As our society has modernized and children have been switched to nipple bottles, formula, and soft baby food, they haven’t learned proper tongue placement as second nature.
Your tongue is the strongest muscle in your body. When properly placed and fully functional, it helps your jaw grow naturally, and helps to spread your upper maxilla and palate. As teeth begin to grow in, this expansion of the upper maxilla creates space for each tooth.
Sleep Disordered Breathing in Children
Proper tongue placement and dental development isn’t just important for aesthetics, it’s important for healthy breathing and good sleep. A 2016 sleep study by HealthyStart® published in JAOS Winter found that 9 out of 10 children have one or more symptoms of Sleep Disordered Breathing. The most prevalent of these symptoms were mouth breathing and snoring, both of which can be tied to mouth breathing.
If children can’t breathe right, they can’t get the restorative sleep their body’s need to help them function well throughout the day. This can lead to a host of problems, including behavioral issues and poor focus.
How HealthyStart® for Kids Helps
HealthyStart® appliances can help treat the issues of an underdeveloped jaw, crooked teeth, and the oral conditions that lead to disordered breathing. When worn daily (for a minimum of 2 hours) and during sleep, HealthyStart® appliances have been shown to help correct crooked, crossed, and crowded teeth while also alleviating symptoms of sleep disordered breathing. HealthStart® appliances aim to open up your child’s airway by treating the dental conditions that lead to a narrowed airway and encourage children to breathe through their nose instead of their mouth.
By developing healthy habits and proper tongue placement, HealthyStart® helps children thrive!
If you’re interested in HealthyStart® and setting your child up for success, contact our team at Ecologic Dentistry today!