A Hamden native, Dr. Palluotto is a graduate of the Hopkins School in New Haven, Trinity College and Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. He has a 2-year Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Family Dentistry and Teaching Experience.
Dr. Palluotto has been in practice for over 25 years, and each member of our staff has been in the practice for a very long time. Our patients are like family members to us. They trust us and return to us year after year. We have many generations of patients who continue to love coming to our practice.
Dr. Palluotto has been making sleep apnea and snoring appliances for the past 20 years. He has been a member of The National Sleep Foundation Ad Hoc Committee on Sleep Awareness. He has also successfully overcome Sleep Apnea as a patient himself and has a keen insight how this disorder developes from early childhood to Old Age.
The patients well-being is of paramount importance to us. This includes patient comfort, safety, quality of dental work, and trust. We have a unconditionally high regard for patients and therefore patients are welcome to ask any and all questions to achieve a comfortable level of understanding of their oral health.
Its primarily caused by enlarged tonsils and adenoids which, during the younger ages, are most actively enlarging due to the childs immune system becoming hardwired and programmed due to initial exposures to viruses, bacteria and antigens like molds and pollen. During sleep, especially valuable REM sleep, there is a decrease in muscle tone causing the airway to narrow. If the tonsils and adenoids are enlarged ( which in some children is constant) the airway collapses and becomes blocked. This blockage causes a chain of events that cause the child to wake up for short intervals due to lack of oxygen in the blood and brain. During these intervals, the child wakes up just long enough to resume breathing but not long enough to gain consciousness. This is why they dont remember these episodes. These repeated awakening periods cause a fragmented sleep pattern which causes the the childs body and brain to be unrefreshed leading to significant daytime problems, both physical and behavioral. This is why children with Obstructive Sleep Apnea are predisposed to being irritable, cranky, and frustrated more often . Most importantly they will become HYPERACTIVE, RESTLESS, EASILY DISTRACTED and HAVE DIFFICULTY PAYING ATTENTION and MAKING DECISIONS , acting confused as a result. These are also symptoms often attributed to ADD / ADHD which is a chronic behavioral disorder which sometimes requires a life time of different therapies including very strong pharmacological stimulants. Pediatric Obstructive sleep apnea is many times a reversible condition. You dont want your child misdiagnosed.
So What are some of the objective signs of pediatric sleep apnea ? BE CAREFUL BECAUSE IT ISNT ALWAYS OVERT SNORING. Many times it is as simple as very restless, contorting sleep and grinding of teeth. When the blood oxygen level gets dangerously low, the brain sends signals to the body to get in in any position that opens the airway. This is often an ached neck and back in almost a backward position. Grinding of teeth is the childs brain sending the signal to push the jaw forward to pull the base of the tongue away from the throat.
If your child exhibits this pattern of signs and symptoms they must be evaluated by their pediatrician or ENT specialist. They may prescribe an overnight Polysomnography Test or sleep test to determine if they have true obstructive sleep apnea or other sleep-related problems. If a positive test result, very often a simple out-patient surgical procedure, a Tonsil and/or Adenoidectomy provides a definitive abatement of the airway obstruction leading to a significant and drastic improvement in the childs quality of life and performance in school.