Your Kids Shouldn't be Snoring: Childhood Sleep Apnea (Allergies, ADHD, Tonsils and Tongue Ties)

If your child is snoring, it's a problem. Today we're talking about sleep apnea in kids, and related conditions: tongue ties, allergies, enlarged tonsils and adenoids, and even ADHD.

I recently had the good pleasure of interviewing Dr. Nick Douvis, a colleague and friend of mine who has had a special interest in childhood sleep apnea for the last 19 years. You can watch the full interview here:

If you’d rather read, then here are a few of the take home points:

Airway is KING. Anything that affects the airway negatively can increase the risk for sleep apnea in children.
Tonsils and Adenoids - enlarged tonsils and adenoids will narrow the airway
Mouth Breathing - breathing through the mouth can lead to an underdeveloped nasal airway, a narrower palate, and other issues in growth and development.
Tongue Ties - problems rarely have isolated effects. In english, I mean that just because a tongue tie only physically affects the tongue, doesn’t mean it won’t indirectly affect other parts of the mouth.
According to Dr. Douvis, tongue ties can lead to improper airway development, and potentially increase the risk for sleep apnea in children.
2) Could a bad airway and lack of oxygen at night cause behaviour issues previously attributed to ADHD?
Like anything in medicine, it can be very difficult to ascertain cause and effect.
However, there are case studies that suggest behaviour issues could be tied to a lack of a good night’s sleep, especially when the problem is of a chronic nature (such as in Childhood Sleep Apnea)
More research needs to be done to confirm this.
3) What should you do if you hear your child snoring?
-Seek out the opinion of a dentist well-versed in sleep apnea.
-Make sure your child’s allergies are under control.
-Discern whether it’s a consistent problem, or just something happens once in a while (e.g. when sick)
Truly, my discussion with Dr. Nick is much more comprehensive than these bullet points, so I’d suggest you go check the video out when you have 25 minutes to spare. He even discusses Sleep Apnea Treatment and what is possible in dentistry to resolve some of these problems.

Take care guys,

Michael

Видео Your Kids Shouldn't be Snoring: Childhood Sleep Apnea (Allergies, ADHD, Tonsils and Tongue Ties) канала Michael the Dentist