What You Need to Know About Snoring and Jaw Development

By Paul R. Ehrlich, Ph.D. & Sandra Kahn, D.D.S., M.S.D

Once mostly an adult problem, even children are beginning to snore as human jaws continue to shrink due to changes in the post-industrial age diet.

No longer just a nuisance, snoring is actually a serious public health problem hiding in plain sight. In fact, it’s one of many symptoms of a cryptic epidemic that is just being discovered by the medical community.[1]

The most obvious symptom is the growing frequency of children with crooked teeth wearing braces.[2] Other symptoms include slack jaws, frequent stuffy noses, mouth breathing, disturbed sleeping at night (sleep apnea), and a general decline in physical appearance.[3] These symptoms indicate a growing, environmentally caused medical emergency that may eventually catapult dentists and sleep scientists to the front lines of public health.

The emergency lies primarily in the collection of serious diseases connected with disturbed sleep, including heart disease, cancer, ADHD, depression, schizophrenia, suicide, asthma, and perhaps even Alzheimer’s disease. Disturbed sleep is an extremely serious stressor for the mind and body, depressing the immune system and making an individual much more vulnerable to a wide variety of health problems. It also modifies the brain in…