Pediatric Dentistry

Early Intervention is Key

Our goal is to help your child thrive by evaluating and guiding their growth and development toward its fullest potential. Addressing root causes of preventable illnesses allows us to be able to provide minimally invasive treatments that result in healthier lives.

Ages 0-1

We are comfortable seeing babies as soon as they are born. At this age we will mainly focus on tethered oral tissues and parent education on our favorite products and recommendations for helping your child thrive. We collaborate with lactation consultants, speech language pathologists, pediatricians, and ear, nose and throat doctors when there are feeding, breathing or sleeping concerns.

Ages 2-4

The more often we see children in this age group, the more comfortable they become in our office. We make their experience fun and rewarding! At this age, if we are noticing potential for underdeveloped jaws and/or parents have concerns around their child’s breathing and sleeping, we may recommend developmental guides to gently shape the jaw structure, ensuring proper breathing and development from an early age.

Ages 5+

If we are seeing signs of underdeveloped jaws at this age, we may suggest an airway screening and consultation appointment where records will be taken. The records may include 3D CBCT imaging, sleep data and questionnaire, tongue and tissue evaluation, and digital models. At this time we can consider early orthodontic intervention, which usually involves dental arch expanders.

Pediatric Airway & Growth-Focused Care

Your child’s teeth are just one part of their oral and facial development. The way they breathe, sleep, eat, swallow, and use their tongue and facial muscles can all play a role in how their jaws, teeth, and face develop.

As your child grows, we look beyond the teeth alone to understand how the jaws, palate, tongue, airway, and oral muscles are developing together.

Our goal is to identify potential concerns early, while there is still an opportunity to guide healthy growth and development. When appropriate, we also collaborate with other healthcare professionals to make sure your child’s needs are being looked at from a whole-child perspective.

Why Look Beyond the Teeth?

Children grow and change quickly. The way the jaws develop affects the space available for the teeth and tongue, while oral habits and muscle function can influence how the mouth develops.

Because we see children regularly as their teeth and jaws are developing, we may notice signs that are worth looking at more closely.

What Might Parents Notice

You know your child better than anyone. If you've noticed any of the following, it may be worth bringing it up with us:

Breathing through the mouth instead of the nose
Snoring or noisy breathing during sleep
Restless sleep or frequent movement at night
Grinding or clenching the teeth
Frequent nasal congestion
Sleeping with the mouth open
Difficulty keeping the tongue in a comfortable resting position
A persistent thumb, finger, or pacifier habit
Crowded or overlapping teeth
A narrow or high palate
A crossbite, underbite, or other bite concern
Crowded baby teeth
Concerns about tongue movement or swallowing
Ongoing concerns with sleep, attention, or daytime behavior

These observations don't necessarily mean that something is wrong. They simply give us an opportunity to pause, ask questions, and look at the bigger picture.

What Happens During a Growth & Airway Evaluation

A complete evaluation includes photographs, digital scans, measurements, and 3D imaging. This gives us the necessary information to be able to make proper growth guidance recommendations to help ensure your child is set up for healthy long term breathing.

We look at several areas:

Breathing & Airway

We consider breathing patterns, nasal breathing and relevant anatomical findings such as tonsils and adenoids, as well as signs that may warrant further sleep or medical evaluation.

Growth & Structure

We look at how your child’s face and jaws are growing, the shape of the palate, how the teeth are coming in, how the bite fits together, and whether there is enough room for the permanent teeth..

Oral Function

We evaluate tongue posture and mobility, swallowing patterns, oral rest posture, and persistent oral habits that may influence growth and development.

Looking at these areas together allows us to create a more complete picture of your child rather than treating an individual symptom in isolation.

Early Treatment Options

There is no single treatment that is appropriate for every child. Recommendations depend on your child’s age, stage of dental development, growth pattern, anatomy, oral function, and individual needs.

For some children, the right recommendation may simply be to monitor growth over time. For others, early intervention may be beneficial. Early recognition can give us more opportunities to address developing concerns such as crowding, narrow arches, bite discrepancies, oral habits, and functional patterns before they turn into complex orthodontic cases that may involve tooth extraction or jaw surgery.

Treatment options may include:

Creating more space with expansion

When the upper jaw is too narrow or there is not enough room for developing teeth in the mouth, expansion may be considered. The goal is to support healthy development and create appropriate space as your child grows.

Growth & Oral Function Appliances

In selected younger patients, appliances may be used as part of a broader approach to encourage nasal breathing, appropriate tongue posture, and healthier oral muscle patterns.

We Believe in Whole-Child Care

Your child’s oral health does not exist in isolation.

When we identify concerns that extend beyond what can be addressed in the dental office, we believe in working together with the appropriate professionals. Depending on your child’s needs, that may include a pediatrician, ENT, sleep physician, myofunctional therapist, speech-language pathologist, or other healthcare provider.

We are not here to replace these professionals. Instead, we want to recognize when different pieces may be connected and help coordinate care when collaboration can benefit your child.

A Thoughtful Approach to Your Child's Growth

Dr. Anhorn's interest in the connection between oral health, breathing, sleep, and whole-body wellness grew from her own experiences as a mother and healthcare provider.

Over the years, her continuing education has expanded beyond traditional dentistry to include children's growth and development, breathing and sleep health, oral function, and early orthodontic intervention.

These areas have become an important part of the way she looks at dentistry today—not as something separate from overall health, but as one piece of a much bigger picture.

Our goal is simple: to understand your child, educate you, and intervene when it can make a meaningful difference.

We want you to leave an evaluation with a clearer understanding of what we're seeing, why it may matter, and what your options are.

Sometimes the next step is treatment. Sometimes it's observation. Sometimes it's a conversation with another healthcare provider.

Whatever the recommendation, we want it to be thoughtful, individualized, and appropriate for your child.

Wondering If Your Child Should Be Evaluated?

If you've noticed changes in your child's breathing, sleep, oral habits, tongue posture, bite, or dental development, we're happy to take a closer look.

An evaluation doesn't automatically mean treatment. It is simply an opportunity to better understand what is happening as your child grows and determine whether monitoring, intervention, or collaboration with another provider makes sense.

If you have questions or concerns about your child's growth and development, we'd love to talk with you.

Contact our office to schedule a Pediatric Airway & Growth Evaluation.

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