Airway Orthodontics

Airway orthodontics focuses on more than just straight teeth. At Premier Orthodontics & Dental Specialists, Dr. Corina Radu evaluates how jaw development, bite alignment, and facial structure impact breathing, sleep, and overall health.

Rather than only aligning teeth, airway orthodontics addresses the root cause of crowding and jaw imbalance by creating proper space for the tongue and airway. This approach supports long-term stability, improved breathing, and better overall function.

What Is Airway Orthodontics?

Airway orthodontics is a specialized approach that focuses on how the jaws, teeth, and facial structure affect breathing and airway function. When the jaws do not develop properly, it can reduce space for the tongue and airway, which may impact sleep and overall health.

Instead of simply moving teeth within limited space, airway-focused treatment aims to create proper jaw development and support healthy breathing patterns. At Premier Orthodontics & Dental Specialists we go beyond traditional orthodontics with a specialized focus on airway orthodontics, a treatment approach that enhances breathing by guiding proper jaw and facial development.

What Are The Benefits Of Airway Orthodontics?

Airway orthodontics can provide both functional and long-term health benefits, including:

• Expand and stabilize the airway
• Reduced risk of crowding and extractions
• Improved nasal breathing and airflow
• promote better oxygen intake during sleep
• improve  sleep quality and reduced airway restriction
• Proper jaw growth and facial development
• Long-term stability of orthodontic results

Why Is Early Treatment Important For Airway Development?

Early orthodontic evaluation allows us to guide jaw growth while a child is still developing. Since children’s bones are more responsive to treatment, early intervention can help create space for proper breathing and reduce the need for more complex treatment later.

Signs that may indicate airway concerns in children include mouth breathing, snoring, crowded teeth, restless sleep, bed wetting ADHD concerns, inability to focus in school.  Early treatment can help address these issues before they worsen. This non-invasive treatment benefits children addresing the root cause of airway restrictionrather than just the symproms. Over time, it can significantly improve sleep quality and overall health.

What Are Expanders And How Do They Help?

Expanders are orthodontic appliances used to widen the upper jaw and create more space for teeth, the tongue, and the airway.

Rapid Palatal Expander (RPE) For Kids

RPE is commonly used in children while the jaw is still developing. It gently widens the upper jaw, helping improve bite alignment and airway space.

MARPE And MSE For Teens And Adults

For older patients whose bones have matured, advanced expanders are used:

• MARPE (Mini-Implant Assisted Rapid Palatal Expansion) uses small implants to expand the jaw without traditional surgery
• MSE (Maxillary Skeletal Expander) is a more advanced system designed to create skeletal expansion in non-growing patients

What Is MARPE And When Is It Used?

MARPE is a non-surgical expansion technique designed for teens and adults who need jaw expansion. It uses mini-implants to apply controlled force directly to the bone, allowing for effective widening of the upper jaw.

When Is Jaw Surgery Needed For Airway Issues? 

Maxillary and mandibular Advancement MMA to treat severe OSA

Jaw surgery can advance the upper jaw, lower jaw, or both to:

• Improve airway space Correct severe bite issues
• Enhance facial balance and function

Adult patients diagnosed with severe OSA, it they present with complex untreated skeletal discrepancies, may benefit from corrective double jaw surgery advancement with expansion called MMA. This is combined orthodontic-orthognathic treatment that starts with pre-surgical orthodontics to decompensate the position of the teeth, done with braces or clear aligners, followed by surgery and a couple of days in the hospital. A month after, the post-surgical orthdontic phase will commence to detail the fine position of the teeth once the jaws had been moved into their final corrected position. The result is enhanced facial balance and harmony, a correct bite with good airway, proper sleep and breathing.

Dr. Corina Radu, Board Certified Orthodontist, works closely with highly specialized oral surgeons, ENT surgeons and plastic surgeons to ensure precise, coordinated interdisciplinary complex adult treatment. This is right up her alley, her niche is adult complex treatment.  She served in Germany as a contractor orthodontist in a large interdisciplary dental clinic treating mostly adult active duty patients with various forms of combined ortho-surgical treatment.