Braces put on teeth not only straighten teeth misalignments, but may also correct a misaligned jaw in children. If your child has an underbite, crossbite, or even an overbite, they will have braces put on teeth to change physical appearance due to being beauty conscious, especially in the public eye.

An excessive overbite makes the lower jaw to recede into the back of the mouth during sleep and that may block the upper throat and the airway that supplies oxygen to the lungs. This will cause breathing difficulties when your child sleeps. When he or she inhales air while asleep, the throat tissues and the roof of the mouth vibrate due to the constricted airflow, and that leads to snoring.

The jaw misalignment and obstructive sleep apnea are related in the sense that if snoring is left untreated it will cause the sleep disorder. Apnea in children is characterized by heavy breathing, loud snoring, breathing pauses, and snorts. The partial blockage of the airway causes a reduction in the oxygen levels in the blood. In fact, it is seen that malocclusion may also lead to snoring and other sleep disorders.

Call it a blessing in disguise, but one of the remedies for mild to moderate apnea with loud snoring is the braces put on teeth. It helps correct the malocclusion in children, which can itself reduce breathing difficulty and alleviate snoring. Further, since the mandible of children is small it can also narrow down the airway opening.

Once the overbite gets corrected by wearing braces as per the duration recommended by the doctors or close to that, the upper airway will open to an extent and your child will have a better sleep in comparison. Moreover, as per the severity of overbite and the age of the kid, the braces are put on teeth alongside an orthodontic retainer.

For instance, older kids tend to rely on orthognathic surgery in order to correct the misalignments in the jaw or skeletal disharmonies linked to apnea. The surgeons performing the corrective jaw surgery use a series of screws and plates to hold the jaws in a secured position. This is done to clear the improperly aligned jaws in older children. However, if your child cannot bear the pain of such surgeries to clear an overbite, it is better to wear braces as recommended.