Airway Orthodontics

Ladies and gentlemen, hold onto your smiles—because there’s a dental revolution happening right under our noses (literally)! I was recently introduced to the concept of Airway Orthodontics by Dr. Geoffrey Skinner, a dual-board-certified expert in Dental Sleep Medicine and founder of the AIR Institute, a study club with over 1,000 doctors worldwide.

Airway Orthodontics/smile design is a transformative approach that’s not just about straightening teeth, but also about opening up your breathing passages, boosting your energy, reversing the signs of facial aging, and even improving your overall quality of life. Yes, you heard that right! Orthodontics is stepping out of the purely cosmetic spotlight and taking center stage in the realm of sleep apnea, health, and wellness, offering hope and optimism for a healthier, more vibrant life.

From Straight Teeth to a Functional Airway: A Paradigm Shift

For decades, orthodontics has been synonymous with aesthetics—braces, retainers, aligners, all designed to give us that picture-perfect Hollywood smile. But now, a growing number of forward-thinking doctors and dentists are saying, ‘Wait a second, is this the best we can do? — What about their airway?’

Here are the latest scientific discoveries: your jaw and dental alignment aren’t just about looks. They shape the very airway you breathe through. A narrow jaw, receding chin, or crowded teeth can literally squeeze your tongue back into your airway, making it harder to breathe—especially while you sleep.

Science is showing us that poor airway function, which can be improved through airway orthodontics, is linked to a range of health issues from snoring and sleep apnea to fatigue, headaches, depression, anxiety, diabetes, heart attacks, strokes, alzheimers disease, and even behavioral issues in children such as bedwetting.

The Science Behind the Smile

Picture this: when your upper and lower jaws don’t develop fully, your tongue has less room to rest in the mouth. Instead of sitting comfortably against the palate, the tongue falls backward into the throat. The result? A blocked or narrowed airway. This can make nighttime breathing a struggle and reduce oxygen intake.

The Long-Term Health Consequences? They’re Staggering:

Airway orthodontics tackles this head-on—literally. By carefully guiding jaw development in children or reshaping jaw alignment in adults, practitioners can dramatically open up airways, improving oxygen flow and transforming lives for both children and adults.

In most cases, a comprehensive approach is taken in airway orthodontics, utilizing clear aligners, such as Invisalign, and/or palatal expanders to create additional space. The goal remains the same: to improve airflow, enhance health, and improve the patient’s quality of life. This comprehensive approach should reassure you that airway orthodontics leaves no stone unturned in its mission to improve your health and well-being.

And here’s the kicker—patients often report side effects that sound too good to be true: deeper sleep, more energy, fewer headaches, less anxiety, and even improved athletic performance.

Proper Breathing and Longevity Connection

So why does airway health matter so much for humans? The answer is simple: oxygen is life, and over 80% of sleep-related breathing disorders go undiagnosed! We can live weeks without food, days without water, but only minutes without air. If your body isn’t getting enough oxygen—especially while you sleep—it’s like running on half a battery all the time, and your body and brain never truly get a chance to recharge and heal itself fully.

Low oxygen levels are tied to an increase in free oxygen radicals that are responsible for ruining many different areas of your health. It disrupts your metabolism by forcing your body to produce lactic acid instead of utilizing oxygen to generate energy. Lactic acid creates inflammation throughout your entire body, increasing your risk for fibromyalgia and other pain disorders. The increased acidification and inflammation of your blood vessels are also linked to osteoporosis in aging women, as well as an increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, and cancers.

The skin on your face lays directly over your teeth and bone. By making the teeth more symmetric, the face itself becomes more symmetric. According to Dr. Skinner, “by using his Portland protocol airway orthodontics principles, we are able to make the smile much wider, which means more support for the cheeks. By moving the teeth this way, it can cause a kind of dental facelift to occur, can erase wrinkles, and may make people look and feel younger by seemingly reversing the pull of gravity on your face.”

The before-and-afters Dr. Skinner shared with me were simply amazing. Not only did he have sleep studies to show that patients’ sleep and airways improved as their faces became more supported and younger, with the removal of eyebags and wrinkles, and their smiles widened. These inspiring transformations are a testament to the life-changing potential of airway orthodontics, motivating and inspiring those considering this revolutionary treatment.

A Patient Story That Will Blow You Away

Meet Bobby, a 48-year-old father of two who struggled for years with chronic exhaustion and pain. Doctors told him it was “just stress” or “part of being a busy dad.” But after a sleep study revealed severe sleep apnea, he came to see Dr. Skinner to improve his airway and his smile before his wedding. His treatment? A combination of jaw expansion and orthodontic realignment, followed by crowns and veneers. Within months, Bobby reported sleeping through the night, waking up refreshed, and—get this—his pains disappeared.

These aren’t isolated stories—they’re part of a growing wave of success cases being reported worldwide by airway-friendly orthodontic providers. From children to adults, the transformation in their health and quality of life is truly inspiring.

Media Contact
Company Name: Hillsboro Dental Excellence
Contact Person: Dr. Geoffrey Skinner, President
Email: Send Email
Phone: 503-648-6671
City: Hillsboro
State: OR 97123
Country: United States
Website: https://hillsborodentalexcellence.com/