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Being the parent of a child with an airway disorder can be a daunting task. You want to be an advocate for your child and do all you can to help them get the care they need, but you may not always know what questions to ask or where to turn to for help for your child.


We've pulled together a comprehensive list to help guide your education and better equip you to support your child's airway management needs. Read on to find books, blogs, videos, research, and other resources.


AIRWAY DISORDER TERMINOLOGY


One of the first steps you can take as a parent towards equipping yourself to be the best advocate possible for your child is to get a firm understanding of some basic terminology around childhood airway disorders. Here are a few of the most common to help get you started:


  • Airway-Centric Dentist: Airway dentistry focuses on addressing common and complex concerns related to the structure of the bite and palate, which affects how you breathe.

  • C-GASP: Children's General Airway Screening Protocol by the American Dental Association

  • Early Childhood Malocclusions (ECM): Malocclusion refers to any degree of irregular contact between the teeth of your child's upper jaw with the teeth of the lower jaw. This includes overbites, underbites, and crossbites, as well as crowding of your child's teeth.

  • Orofacial Myofunctional Disorder (OMD): Patterns involving oral and orofacial musculature that interfere with normal growth, development, or function of orofacial structures

  • Oral Myofunctional Therapy (OMT): An exercise training program for the muscles around your face, mouth, and tongue

  • Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Occurs when breathing is interrupted during sleep, for longer than 10 seconds at least 5 times per hour (on average) throughout a sleep period.

  • Proper Breathing: Starts in the nose and then moves to the stomach as your diaphragm contracts, the belly expands and your lungs fill with air; non-mouth breathing

  • Sleep Disorder Breathing (SDB): Refers to a wide spectrum of sleep-related conditions including increased resistance to airflow through the upper airway, heavy snoring, marked reduction in airflow (hypopnea), and complete cessation of breathing (apnea)

  • Tethered Oral Tissues (TOTs): A tongue or an upper lip that is bound too tightly to the mouth and can prevent movement, speech, and airway flow; tongue-tie or lip-tie

  • Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome: A sleep disorder characterized by the narrowing of the airway that can cause disruptions to sleep.[1][2] The symptoms include unrefreshing sleep, fatigue, sleepiness, chronic insomnia, and difficulty concentrating



BOOKS, BLOGS, AND PODCASTS


Books we recommend:


Blogs we recommend:


Podcasts we recommend:


Airway First Podcast for parents and medical professionals

SLEEP AND AIRWAY RESEARCH


Sleep and airway disorders in children by the numbers:

  • Sleep-disordered breathing in children is estimated to be 30-35% (when mouth breathing and upper airway resistance syndrome are included)

  • According to the Guilleminault and Huang's study, 82% of infants born before thirty-four weeks of gestation have high narrow palates and most have breastfeeding issues

  • It is estimated that tongue-ties affect 20% of babies

  • It is estimated that 4-10% of the population shows the prevalence of being tongue-tied

  • According to a study conducted by Healthy People 2030, only 65% of children between the ages of 4-months and 14-years old get a sufficient amount of sleep each night


sleep disordered breathing in children


Sleep and airway research:



MEDICAL SUPPORT FOR PARENTS


In addition to the information we've listed here, the Children's Airway First Foundation has a robust resource library with blogs, podcasts, videos, research, and more.


You can also become part of the conversation and find support via our online parent's port, Airway Huddle.


resources for parents, kids sleep issues




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