Children – ADHD, Bed Wetting, Ear Infections, Grinding
There are a few medical conditions seen in children that can be related to dentistry and be treated by dentist and medical doctors together.
These include
- Ear infections
- ADHD
- Grinding of Teeth
- Bed Wetting
- Snoring
- Sleep Apnoea
Snoring, Sleep Apnoea, ADHD
Here are some facts
10% of children snore.
Of those 10%, 33-50% will have sleep apnoea if tested in a sleep study.
Snoring in children is not like snoring in adults. A wheeze or whistle or heavy breathing in a child is snoring (or more correctly obstruction)
Children with untreated sleep apnoea will be 10-15 IQ points below their potential.
A child who snores is 4 times more likely to be in the bottom 25% of the class.
A child with sleep apnoea is 9 times more likely to be in the bottom 10% of the class.
48% of patients diagnosed by a sleep study with Obstructive Sleep Apnoea had been started on stimulant medication for ADHD
Yes the earlier sleep apnoea is treated in children the better.
Don’t ignore snoring in children, Have your GP Doctor or GP Dentist refer you to an ENT for an assessment. The ENT will organise a sleep study if indicated
Large tonsils and high narrow palate are correlated with Obstructive Sleep Apnoea. If you see it in a child, be suspicious.
Don’t just wait for the child to turn 12 and then seek help. You will have missed the intellectual boat.
If a child snores from 2-6 then stops they are 2.5 times more likely to be in the bottom 25% intellectually. That means while they were snoring during that period the damage was done.
If a child snores from 2-6 and THEN has Tonsil and Adenoid removal they are 4X more likely to be in the bottom 25%. Obviously there OSA was severe enough for someone to notice that they needed their tonsils and adenoids removed
ADHD is often misdiagnosis of OSA. If you have ADHD patients check out their tonsils and find out if they snore and organise an ENT consult.
All these condition above can cause ultimately the jaws not to develop properly and therefore causing poor facial aesthetics and crowding of the teeth leading to crooked teeth. It is essential to be diagnosed at an early age so as prevent the children from getting extensive treatments. If you want to read more about early treatment please click here
Ear Infections
There are many causes of middle ear infections and one of the causes is mechanical obstruction by the tonsils and adenoids. It therefore imperative that the child is properly diagnoses and appropriate treatments are carried out.
Bed Wetting
Studies show that “nocturnal enuresis” – bedwetting – is common in children with obstructive sleep apnea.
The symptoms of sleep apnea vary between children. Almost all of these children have significant snoring. As they sleep, you may notice that they seem to stop breathing for more than ten seconds. This is followed by a gasp or partial arousal and then the snoring begins again. During these episodes, the amount of oxygen taken into the body drops significantly.
This causes the heart to pump harder to pump enough oxygen to the body. In turn this is recognized by the heart as increased volume of fluid in the body and produces a hormone call ANP (Antinatriuretic Peptide) that causes kidneys to excrete more water and therefore more urine forms leading to increased urination.
Also, there are four stages of sleep and a hormone called ADH (antidiuretic hormone) is produced in the fourth stage of sleep. However children and adults with sleep apnoea never reach the fourth stage of sleep due to constant awakening episodes and therefore ADH is not released. The function of ADH is to prevent urination and if it is not produced then it results in urination and therefore in kids who are young resulting bed wetting
Your dentist or doctor can refer you to the right sleep physicians for the diagnosis and management of sleep apnoea
If you would like more information on this subject, please contact Smile Concepts directly by clicking here or ringing 02 9267 7777
