Airway Restoration
An Innovative Approach to Improve Breathing
At Atlas Family Health Center, we take a cutting edge approach to improve breathing and airway issues. By combining Advanced Orthogonal care (a gentle sound wave correction) and Airway Dentistry, a powerful dynamic takes place.
Advanced Orthogonal care is one of the Upper Cervical techniques which helps restore the neurological control of your posture and muscles of the airway. The dental appliances we use remodel the palate and jaw painlessly increases the airway volume, allowing you to breath freely.
This combination of care influences a structural and functional change, making this a longer term breathing solution without surgery, CPAP machines, or other therapies. The Atlas Family Health Centers is one of only a few facilites who use this innovative and powerful combination of these treatments to improve breathing.
The Science of Breathing
Ideal health and brain function relies on getting optimal oxygen into the lungs. In order to breathe well, the entire airway must remain unobstructed. In conditions like apnea and malocclusion of the jaw, the airway becomes obstructed from the tongue, the tonsils, and the muscles of the airway itself.
In order to understand why your breathing is compromised, it is important to understand what causes these structures to crowd and compress the airway that is so essential for health.
The Neck Affects the Airway
The upper airway is controlled by nerves that come from the brainstem in the upper neck and bottom of the brain. These nerves tell the muscles of the upper airway to keep the airway open. We can encounter falls, head impacts, car accidents, and other forces on our body and spine that can cause the upper bones of the neck to misalign. This misalignment can interfere with the nerve signals to the airway, causing it to constrict and limit your ability to breathe with ease.
Inflammation
Our immune system is designed to respond to any toxins or infections as soon as it enters our system. Our first line of defense from things that we eat and breathe are found within the throat and upper airway. When we are exposed to pollution, toxins, and inflammatory foods, it will cause inflammation of our tonsils and airway, limiting how much air we can get in through our nose.
Mouth Breathing and Posture Changes
The human body adapts quickly. When the airway becomes obstructed, the brain unconsciously changes posture and mouth position to open up the airway. The tongue and jaw are jutted forward, the head moves forward and the chin tilts back (called CPR posture), and breathing is limited to the mouth. In this posture, the spine is destabilized, neck pain and tension are increased, but breathing is preserved as a higher priority.
Dental Changes
When the mouth remains open for prolonged periods of time, the tongue is not able to put pressure on the inside of the arch of the upper teeth or the palate. This leads to a narrowing of the mouth, which can further obstruct breathing and lead to improper bite, grinding of the teeth, and even TMJ pain.
Correcting The Root Cause
Many approaches to breathing focus on the symptoms rather than the root cause of the problem. CPAP machines and surgery are sometimes used before a less invasive approach. At Atlas Family Health Center, we identify and correct the root causes of breathing obstruction first. Our unique combination of treatments address every step of the obstruction process, namely the nerve interference, posture, dental occlusion, and jaw alignment together through Upper Cervical Care and Airway Dentistry.
Breathing Restoration
The unique multidisciplinary approach at the Atlas Family Health Center is a powerful way to restore breathing. With the Advanced Orthogonal technique, the brain and nerves are restored to normal function, restoring muscle control of the upper airway. The Airway Dentistry restores the alignment and architecture of the teeth.
Activate the Breathing System
Alignment of the upper cervical spine removes interference on the nerves that control the muscles of the upper airway. Improving the nerve signals first leads to a balanced improvement in breathing and better muscle control of the airway.
Cone Beam CT Analysis
In some situations, upper cervical alignment is not enough. A 3-D assessment of the airway, mouth, the spine gives a comprehensive view of all of the structures involved in the airway. This gives the dentist and the upper cervical chiropractor an exact model of the structure of the neck, jaw, and mouth to evaluate your airway problem in greater depth.
Modeling and Making Your Appliance
The remodeling of your jaws and bite can change your airway. Impressions of your teeth are taken. Comparing the dental casts of your teeth with the Cone Beam 3-D reconstruction gives the airway dentist the information necessary to design your appliance that will restore your airway.
Remodeling the Airway
With the use of dental breathing appliances like the Vivos Adult Appliance and the Healthy Start appliance for children, the dental jaws and palate can be gently and slowly stimulated to grow, create more space for the tongue to enlarge the airway. These gradual changes guide the structure around your airway to its maximum capacity.
