Airway orthodontics is available for both children and adults at Katie Pizzo Orthodontics. For children, early intervention supports healthier sleep, better daytime focus and behavior, and stronger overall development. For adults, addressing airway concerns can help you feel more rested, productive, and attentive throughout the day.
Depending on the treatment plan, we often discuss upper and lower expansion to create more room for airflow in kids. When a jaw is too narrow, it can restrict how your child breathes during everyday activities, including at school, during sports, and at rest. At Katie Pizzo Orthodontics, Dr. Katie evaluates how the jaw is developing and whether expansion could support healthier breathing and growth.
For active kids, busy Greenville families, and adults looking to breathe and sleep better, identifying these concerns early matters. The growth years are the most effective window for treatment in children because we have the opportunity to modify growth while patients are still young. Adults can benefit from airway orthodontics too, though treatment may look different once the jaw has finished growing. Addressing narrow jaw development early, whenever possible, means working with the body’s natural growth, which leads to more lasting results and often simplifies any orthodontic care needed down the road.
Families and adult patients in Greenville choose airway orthodontic treatment because it addresses how the jaw is growing or has developed, not just how the teeth look. Getting ahead of narrow jaw development gives the airway a better chance to function the way it should, at any age.
Benefits may include:
By limiting extractions and addressing airway concerns early whenever possible, we can improve daily life and nighttime sleep for you or your child.
Expansion is one of the main ways we work toward these goals. Upper expansion is skeletal, meaning it widens the upper jaw itself to create more room in the mouth and nasal passages. Lower expansion is strictly dental uprighting of the teeth; we are not expanding the lower jaw. Depending on the treatment plan, Dr. Katie may recommend one or both.
Breathing, swallowing, and sleep depend on more than the position of the teeth and jaws, so airway concerns often call for more than one specialist. Dr. Katie works closely with ENT specialists, pediatric dentists, and myofunctional therapists throughout Greenville and the Upstate to make sure every part of the airway gets the attention it needs.
Depending on your evaluation, this may include a referral to an ENT to check for enlarged tonsils, adenoids, or other soft tissue concerns, or to a myofunctional therapist to help retrain tongue posture, lip seal, and swallowing patterns before or during orthodontic treatment. Dr. Katie coordinates with these providers along the way so your care stays connected from start to finish.
Younger children whose jaws are still actively developing
Adults looking to improve breathing, sleep, or bite alignment
Patients with a narrow upper jaw
Patients whose bite concerns are connected to jaw width
Families who want to address jaw development concerns before the growth window closes
Anyone experiencing one or more of the symptoms listed above
Airway orthodontics requires a provider who looks beyond the teeth and understands how jaw development connects to breathing and growth.
Here is why families and adult patients in Greenville choose Dr. Katie:
She Looks at the Whole Picture: Growth-Focused Care for Kids: Board-Certified Orthodontist: Personalized Treatment Plans: Collaborative, Whole-Health Approach: Easy to Get Started: Schedule your complimentary consultation at Katie Pizzo Orthodontics in Greenville, SC. If you or your child have noticed mouth breathing, a narrow jaw, or other concerns, an orthodontic evaluation is a simple and worthwhile next step.
Book your free consultation today. Call us or request an appointment online. We see patients from Greenville, Simpsonville, Greer, Travelers Rest, Fountain Inn, and throughout the Upstate.
