Home medical testing has made quantum leaps in the past 10 years. We can find out our ancestry with an inexpensive home DNA kit, and there are now several non-invasive, mail-in colon cancer screening tests we can complete at home. As an orthodontist who frequently sees patients who have sleep and breathing problems, I have also seen a rise in...
Most everyone I know has undergone some kind of X-ray—in the hospital ER, at a doctor’s office, urgent care center—probably most often at the dentist’s office. Who doesn’t love that folded cardboard dental film or the goopy goop required for a full-mouth impression mold? For orthodontic patients, in particular, imaging is crucial since provides valuable additional data about skeletal and...
We know that depression can interfere with sleep—it either inhibits those suffering from depression from getting adequate rest or causes others to sleep seemingly nonstop. New research, however, is showing that sleep deprivation itself can be a leading cause of depression. Talk about a Catch-22! While the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that adults get at least seven hours of...
Orthodontia is about far more than a pretty smile, though we think that pretty smiles are important as well! The fact is we need our teeth to chew and properly digest our food. With good care, our teeth should last a lifetime. Bite issues, jaw malformations, and other problems can interfere with our ability to chew properly. If you’ve read our articles, you...
Jaw pain, facial pain, TMJ problems, jaw-related ear pain, and jaw-related headaches are a complicated and confusing area of healthcare. These problems are as confusing for doctors as they are for patients. The reason for the confusion is that there can be a multitude of causes for what appears to be the same condition. The challenge, therefore, is to identify not...
Does this sound familiar? Your child has difficulty paying attention in school, can’t seem to focus on anything for very long, is easily irritated and frustrated, is often tired in the afternoon, and seems to have little impulse control. Chances are, his teacher, your pediatrician or someone else has told you he has attention deficit hyperactive disorder, or ADHD. Maybe...
Orthodontists (and most physicians) understand that sleep disorders in children can lead to problems such as daytime sleepiness, delayed growth, misdiagnosed ADD/ADHD and even bed wetting. Constant mouth breathing can lead to altered growth of the face and result in certain types of malocclusions (bite problems). What’s more, obstructed sleep can lead to long-term health problems such as high blood...