For children22 questions
For children: the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ)
Twenty-two yes-or-no questions a parent answers, developed at the University of Michigan.
Airway, snoring, and sleep
How is your family breathing at night?
Got one of our patient cards? You’re in the right place. Snoring, mouth breathing, restless sleep, and daytime tiredness can all point to a breathing problem during sleep, in children and in adults. The first step is simple, and it isn’t a commitment to treatment.
Start with a questionnaireFree self-check
Is it worth a closer look?
Start with a short questionnaire. It’s a screen, not a diagnosis: it tells us who needs a closer look.
For adults8 questions
For adults: STOP-BANG
Eight questions: Snoring, Tired, Observed pauses, high blood Pressure, BMI over 35, Age over 50, Neck size, and Gender (male). Three or more yes answers means a higher risk worth discussing with your doctor.
From Clearing the Air
Answers to the questions we hear most
Snoring, mouth tape, tongue-ties, sleep studies, expanders, and more. Pick a question to read Dr. Reynolds’ answer and what to do next.
Our process
How we evaluate
The same five steps work for a child or an adult. Diagnosis earns the right to recommend treatment.
Screen
A short questionnaire and an exam of the teeth, jaws, nose, and throat.
Test, when it’s needed
A 3D scan (CBCT) shows the anatomy. A sleep study shows what actually happens during sleep: an in-lab study for children, and often a home test for adults. Sleep studies are ordered and read by a physician.
Find what’s driving it
The nose, tonsils and adenoids, jaw size and position, weight, or more than one of these.
Treat what matters
Sometimes that’s orthodontics. Often it means working with your pediatrician, an ENT, or a sleep physician.
Recheck
Did it work? We look at symptoms, and a repeat study when it matters.
Timing
Why timing matters
The upper and lower jaws grow on different clocks, so the right age to look is earlier than most parents expect.
Fewer than
0%
of the 7- to 10-year-olds we see need anything right away
7 to 8
A first look. A narrow upper jaw can be widened predictably while it’s still growing, and that window starts to close after about age 10. Most children this age don’t need treatment yet: fewer than 20% of the 7- to 10-year-olds we see need anything right away.
Preteens and teens
The lower jaw does most of its growing around puberty, so this is the window for guiding it. In older teens, widening the upper jaw usually takes an expander anchored to bone.
Adults
Options include nasal and ENT care, CPAP, oral appliances, weight management, bone-anchored expansion (MARPE), and jaw surgery. The right one depends on the cause and how severe it is.
Straight answers
Sleep study common questions
Find out why the mouth is open first. The nose, large tonsils or adenoids, or jaw anatomy are common reasons. Tape doesn’t diagnose or fix any of them, and the evidence for it is limited to small studies in selected adults.
Clearingthe Air
The Complete Guide to Airway, Snoring, and Sleep Apnea in Children and Adults
The book
Clearing the Air
The Complete Guide to Airway, Snoring, and Sleep Apnea in Children and Adults
Our patient cards come from it. It covers how airway problems are screened and diagnosed, what each treatment can and can’t do, and how timing changes the options, in plain language for parents and patients.
Coming soon. Be the first to know.
Leave your name and email, and we’ll let you know as soon as Clearing the Air is available.
From the blog
More on Clearing the Air
Introducing Clearing the Air: A Complete Guide to Airway, Snoring, and Sleep Apnea
Clearing the Air is a plain-language guide by Dr. Jamie Reynolds of Reynolds Orthodontics. It explains how your nose, jaws, and airway connect to snoring, sleep apnea, and your smile. It's written for parents, teens, and adults who want to understand their options before choosing a next step. It is
Read the post
Clearing the Air: An Orthodontist’s Guide to Breathing and Sleep
I wrote Clearing the Air because the shape of a jaw and the way a person breathes at night are closely connected, and orthodontists are often the first to see it. A narrow upper jaw, a recessed lower jaw, or a blocked nose can show up in a child's smile long before anyone thinks to ask about sleep.
Read the post
Do what is necessary, and nothing more.
Sometimes necessary is simply watching. Sometimes it’s an expander, a referral, or more. Either way, it starts with an accurate diagnosis. Four offices across Metro Detroit: Novi, Troy, Rochester Hills, and West Bloomfield.
This page is for general education. It doesn’t diagnose sleep apnea or replace an individual evaluation. Sleep studies are interpreted by a physician.