Introduction to the Primary and Mixed Dentition Training Course. Why treat a potential airway patient with primary dentition? This course, led by Dr. Nathan Tanner, founder of the Airway Center, focuses on why treating an airway patient in the primary dentition is so beneficial.

By age 1, we can evaluate the direction of growth of a child’s upper and lower jaw structure and determine their future development trajectory.

When the upper jaw is under-developed it leads to a lower jaw that is trapped back and a growing tongue that is growing into an airway space is not growing in size at the same rate as the child’s physical growth. This results in sleep disordered breathing, disrupted sleep cycles, a drop in IQ, and many other health compromises. Some factors that affect development include: the hardness of the food we eat, the amount of time spent breathing through our nose or mouth, and the position of our tongue at rest. Even doing all the right things, most children are born with under-developed upper and lower jaw structures that put them at risk.

When babies nurse, they breathe through their nose. If they have underdeveloped jaw structures, they will breathe through their mouth at night or during the day when not nursing. Mouth breathing is a sign of a compromised airway space. The more a child mouth breathes, the more their jaws will grow downward instead of forward which leads to a more compromised airway and increased need to breathe through their mouth. By developing their jaws at an early age as possible can to help re-establish nasal breathing by giving room in the mouth for the tongue and improving their direction of growth.

The longer a child grows in a less than ideal direction, the more likely they will be to have crowded teeth, sleep apnea, and other health concerns. The sooner the direction of growth is optimized the better the long-term results will be for the child’s future health.

By beginning early treatment as soon as 18 months of age we will help improve the child’s airway space by guiding forward jaw growth for the upper and lower jaws. This will help to make more space from the back of their tongue to the back of their throat. More breathing space means better quality of sleep, better development and improved facial structure.

Watch videos and refer to handouts.