Does Your Child Have a High or Narrow Palate?

Early expansion can be an awesome way to help increase the airway, make space for proper tongue posture, and room for straight teeth...

⚠️But we need to remember to also address the reason why the mouth became narrow and vaulted in the first place --->oral dysfunction⚠️

Oral dysfunction can look like mouth breathing, low resting tongue posture, and incorrect swallowing patterns. Oral dysfunction can cause the teeth to be misaligned and alters the way the face and mouth grows. so if we only "fix the palate space, we are missing the underlying cause and will likely run into relapse or incomplete resolution of the problem.

To sum it up: Palatal expansion can play an important role in the airway puzzle, we just need to make sure we are finding the why and treating the root cause of the problem along with it! #Findthewhy #teamapproach

If you or your child had palatal expansion, were you informed about myofunctional therapy?

D'Onofrio L. Oral dysfunction as a cause of malocclusion. Orthod Craniofac Res. 2019 May;22 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):43-48. doi: 10.1111/ocr.12277. PMID: 31074141; PMCID: PMC6851783.