Pediatric Sleep Specialist Q & A – What Does a Pediatric Sleep Team Do?

A certified pediatric sleep doctor is uniquely qualified to test and treat children for sleep issues and disorders like sleep apnea. This is the most qualified kind of professional for you to go to if your child is suffering from poor sleep.

You might have thought about taking your child to see your family physician, and although this isn’t a bad idea, a primary care physician can do only so much for your child. A physician can order tests and send your child in for a sleep study, which can help a lot, but often the physician will refer a young patient to a pediatric sleep doctor. This doctor can provide any kind of test or treatment necessary for a young patient.

This is where a physician’s capabilities can end. Although a physician can help with basic issues related to sleep, like bedwetting, behavioral issues, and fatigue, the physician can’t necessarily help with the underlying conditions that cause these issues. For example, the aforementioned issues could be caused by sleep disordered breathing, a jaw joint disorder, sleep apnea, or another disorder that often require the expertise of a pediatric sleep doctor. We have this type of professional here at Koala® Center For Sleep & TMJ Disorders.

This professional can provide everything from basic sleep advice to ongoing care for children with significant sleep disorders. Many children have a jaw joint disorder (TMJ disorder) that’s affecting their sleep. These children benefit greatly from oral appliance therapy which is proven to work and recommended by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Other children have issues like bruxism (teeth grinding) and sleep apnea which can actually be caused by a TMJ disorder, so oral appliance therapy can help these children too.

Sometimes the underlying condition causing a sleep problem is insomnia, sleep disordered breathing, bedwetting, a behavioral issue, or another condition. These conditions can be addressed by a pediatric sleep doctor.

On top of all that, our pediatric sleep doctors here at Koala® Center For Sleep & TMJ Disorders provide a program exclusively for children with sleep disorders like sleep disordered breathing. This program is KoalaKIDZzz®! In our program, we help children as young as two years old and provide long-term care and, if necessary, oral appliance therapy. We would be delighted to take your child into the program if he or she would benefit from it!

We do, yes! Koala® Center For Sleep & TMJ Disorders has clinic locations in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Texas and Wisconsin. If you believe your young one would benefit from our services, then please reach out to us. You can visit our Appointments page for our addresses and contact information, and to book a consultation with a pediatric sleep doctor near you.

We hope to hear from you soon and help your child with his or her sleep!