"He lives most life whoever breathes most air." -Elizabeth Barrett Browning
"Improper breathing is a common cause of ill health." -Dr. Andrew Weil
Everyone will most likely agree that healthy breathing is one of the keys to a healthy life. It is safe to say that for humans, getting adequate air is the number one highest priority throughout life. A properly functioning airway is critical to healthy breathing during wakefulness and during sleep.
Using our 3D Digital Scanner, we can visualize your airway in all three dimensions and recognize any issues.
We Know Airways:
Dr.’s Bonham and Bonham have always been focused on airway considerations for their orthodontic patients. That’s because the airway is at the center of the craniofacial structures. We know that airway function is critical to the growth and development of the jaws and facial bones. As Orthodontists, we are specially trained to treat problems of growth in the teeth, jaws, and craniofacial bones. We can evaluate your child and offer minimally invasive orthodontic therapies during the growing years to help promote forward facial growth consistent with healthy airway development. We use state of the art 3-D Digital Imaging to help us evaluate our patients airway and facial structures.
We’ve Done the Research:
At the beginning of his orthodontic career in 1985, Dr. Paul spearheaded a two year research project using orthodontic mouth pieces to treat patients with severe sleep apnea, a breathing disorder disease. He developed an orthodontic appliance that showed statistically significant improvement of sleep apnea in his patients as evidenced by pre- and post-treatment overnight sleep studies. The research and findings were published in the American Journal of Orthodontics, a professional peer reviewed scientific journal.
We Take a Team Approach:
We believe that airways can and should be managed, manipulated or enlarged when indicated, and orthodontic treatment plans should be designed with this in mind. Our orthodontic treatment plans will often involve coordination with the Pediatrician and/or the ENT Physician to manage the soft and hard tissues of the nasopharynx and oropharynx both structurally and medically. This team approach helps to not only treat airways, but more importantly, to improve growth, enhance quality of life, and prevent airway obstructive related issues such as obstructive sleep apnea later in life.
