Airwave Focused Integrative Oral Facial Development
What is Airwave Focused Integrative Oral Facial Development?
You don’t have to wait until your child’s adult teeth come in to address an underbite, overbite, jaw growth issues, or tooth crowding. If you notice that your child already has signs of malocclusions by age 3, our practitioners can begin to treat the condition now.
Dr. Jessica notes that a few signs of negative growth changes include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Dental crowding
- Oral dysfunction when it comes to swallowing or sucking
- Speech and language issues
- Large tonsils
- High maxillary palates
- Open-mouth breathing
- Later-state nocturnal enuresis (bed-wetting)
Approximately 70% of a child’s jaw growth is done by age 5. However, by the time most children are receiving braces at age 12, essentially all of the craniofacial-respiratory growth is completed. Now the teeth can be straightened during these pre-teen and teenage years. However, this type of correction is more for cosmetic purposes rather than improving the face shape and jaw position. Outside of surgical correction, doctors cannot do much to change the child’s craniofacial-respiratory growth pattern.
Form Follows Function
One of the primary principles of facial development is that form follows function. Form refers to the structure of the face, while function refers to the repetitive muscle use patterns. Therefore, a patient’s face structure is directly correlated with its purpose and function.
