12% of children snore habitually. Studies have shown that 1% to 3% of preschool children who snore have ‘obstructive sleep apnea’ (OSA). OSA can be found in children of all ages but is most common in two to six year olds. The airway obstruction in OSA can disrupt sleep and cause oxygen deprivation.
The consequences of the affected children laboring and compensating to increase the airflow are many. The facial development and tooth alignment may be affected. The concomitant mouth breathing can predispose the children to a dry mouth, tooth decay, and gum irritation. The children may also exhibit poor school performance due to excessive daytime sleepiness, hyperactivity, aggressive behavior, and social withdrawal and on rare occasions brain damage, seizures, or coma.
Whereas adults with OSA are prone to sleep arousal without complete awakening, children may suffer from hours of partial airway obstruction without sleep arousal.
Some leading causative factors for OSA in children are enlarged tonsils and adenoids, craniofacial anomalies, and obesity. Children with Down’s Syndrome are at high risk. However, not all children with enlarged tonsils or adenoids, or craniofacial anomalies, or obesity, or Down’s Syndrome, are necessarily affected.
Parents describe OSA episodes as labored breathing with no airflow followed by gasping or choking. Breathing is usually normal while the child is awake. A special test called a polysomnograph can help diagnose OSA. Treatments include the removal of the tonsils and adenoids; continuous positive airway pressure treatment; weight loss for obese patients; special mouth devices to reposition the tongue and/or the lower jaw (adults mostly); and surgery on the uvula, tonsils, palate, and pharynx (adults mostly).
Early diagnosis and treatment can avoid needless suffering. Parents who are unsure if their children are affected by this problem should speak to their pediatrician or ask me when they're in for a checkup.
Steve
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Random Thoughts on Dentistry in the 21st Century
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Do You Dream About Losing Your teeth??
If we no longer lose our teeth, will we lose our dreams about losing our teeth?
Teeth have great power in symbol and myth. Primitive people commonly adorn themselves with the teeth and claws of conquered animals. You still see shark-teeth necklaces on the chests of young beachgoers — usually male, presumably attempting to declare their virility.
“The tooth is the only part of the body that, as children, we get money for,” says Betty Sue Flowers of the University of Texas, who edited “The Power of Myth” by Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers. “There’s no nail-clipping fairy. There’s no hair-cutting fairy.”
Since teeth are the archetypal means of attack, loss of one’s teeth in dreams signifies “a fear of castration or of complete failure in life,” reports J.E. Cirlot in “A Dictionary of Symbols,” the authoritative examination of the collective, social and religious meanings of images throughout history.
Freud thought that our extremely common tooth-loss dreams were about sexual guilt. Wow, was he predictable.
“Meaningful symbolic interpretation of teeth in dreams usually comes down to one idea: To lose teeth is to become vulnerable, to lose the first line of defense,” says Bernard Welt, professor of arts and humanities at the Corcoran College of Art and Design, where for 25 years he has taught a course about dreams.
“Thus it is not surprising if someone who feels defenseless or abandoned emotionally dreams of losing teeth.”
Yes, but does the end of tooth loss mean the end of tooth-loss dreams?
“To the extent that many dreams about losing teeth do seem to be inspired by seeing elderly people lacking teeth and incorporating that as a metaphor for mortality or aging or infirmity of later life, I think that proportion of the dreams would be expected to disappear,” says Deirdre Barrett of Harvard, editor of “The New Science of Dreaming.”
Welt is not so sure. “Obviously, people dream about being naked or partially clothed in public places — or about having to take an exam unprepared — without having these experiences,” he says.
And for all we know, the rarer tooth loss becomes, the more nightmarish it will be.
Steve
Teeth have great power in symbol and myth. Primitive people commonly adorn themselves with the teeth and claws of conquered animals. You still see shark-teeth necklaces on the chests of young beachgoers — usually male, presumably attempting to declare their virility.
“The tooth is the only part of the body that, as children, we get money for,” says Betty Sue Flowers of the University of Texas, who edited “The Power of Myth” by Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers. “There’s no nail-clipping fairy. There’s no hair-cutting fairy.”
Since teeth are the archetypal means of attack, loss of one’s teeth in dreams signifies “a fear of castration or of complete failure in life,” reports J.E. Cirlot in “A Dictionary of Symbols,” the authoritative examination of the collective, social and religious meanings of images throughout history.
Freud thought that our extremely common tooth-loss dreams were about sexual guilt. Wow, was he predictable.
“Meaningful symbolic interpretation of teeth in dreams usually comes down to one idea: To lose teeth is to become vulnerable, to lose the first line of defense,” says Bernard Welt, professor of arts and humanities at the Corcoran College of Art and Design, where for 25 years he has taught a course about dreams.
“Thus it is not surprising if someone who feels defenseless or abandoned emotionally dreams of losing teeth.”
Yes, but does the end of tooth loss mean the end of tooth-loss dreams?
“To the extent that many dreams about losing teeth do seem to be inspired by seeing elderly people lacking teeth and incorporating that as a metaphor for mortality or aging or infirmity of later life, I think that proportion of the dreams would be expected to disappear,” says Deirdre Barrett of Harvard, editor of “The New Science of Dreaming.”
Welt is not so sure. “Obviously, people dream about being naked or partially clothed in public places — or about having to take an exam unprepared — without having these experiences,” he says.
And for all we know, the rarer tooth loss becomes, the more nightmarish it will be.
Steve
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