Wellness In Every Season

Sleep Issues and Neurodivergencies

• Autumn Carter/ Erin Rice • Season 1 • Episode 171

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If your child is struggling with sleep, behavior, or constant “mystery” symptoms, this episode is going to hit you right in the gut—in a good way.


In this conversation, I’m joined by Erin Rice from Tooth Pillow, who pulls back the curtain on something most parents have never been told: how your child’s jaw development, breathing, and sleep are all deeply connected. Erin explains why so many kids are dealing with ADHD-like behaviors, bedwetting, mouth breathing, dark circles, cavities, and exhaustion—and why these issues are often rooted in the airway, not just “bad habits” or “genetics.”


We talk about how modern feeding patterns, soft foods, and early bottle use can change the shape of a child’s jaw, and how devices like the Tooth Pillow oral appliance plus myofunctional therapy can support nasal breathing, wider arches, and truly restorative sleep—often reducing the need for braces and, in some cases, even avoiding repeat tonsil/adenoid surgeries. Erin also shares real stories of kids getting off meds, sleeping through the night, and finally having the energy and regulation their parents knew they were capable of.


If you’re curious whether your child might be affected, Erin explains how to get a free airway evaluation at toothpillow.com and how to keep learning via their Instagram community at @toothpillow_official.

For more wellness tips and exclusive content, join my newsletter! Sign up now at https://wellness-in-every-season.kit.com/5-days-to-mastering-mornings-and-evenings receive a free 5-day guide called "Awaken and Unwind: 5 Days to Mastering Life's Mornings and Evenings."

Episode 171: Sleep Issues and Neurodivergences

[00:00:00]  Autumn Carter: This is episode 1 71. We are talking all things mouth. For children.

[00:00:08] Welcome to Wellness. In every season, we talk all things wellness, to help you align yourself, align with your goals, find balance in your life, and just recalibrate yourself if you are listening for the first time. Welcome, welcome. I'm so glad you're here, and let's get started in the rest of the podcast.

[00:00:33] I have with me today Erin Rice from Tooth Pillow, My youngest has a speech impediment and needs an expander put in and he's four years old.

[00:00:44] most parents would not recognize this as early we have because he's our number four. 

[00:00:49] welcome. Thank you for being on. 

[00:00:52] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: Yeah, thanks for having me. 

[00:00:53]  Autumn Carter: Where do you wanna start? Dr. Reiser, had a different. Path she was probably going to take.

[00:00:59] where would [00:01:00] you like to start 

[00:01:00] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: I was invited to be on this mission about four years ago. 

[00:01:04] I have a background in dentistry. people think dentistry, they think taking their kids to the pediatric dentist and it stops at teeth.

[00:01:12] And it's really so much more than teeth. And dentists are doctors of the jaw and airway. we just miss that as parents and we don't think, Hey, I should talk to my dentist about bedwetting, A-D-D-A-D-H-D, mouth breathing, snoring, allergies, swollen tonsils and adenoids. All things that parents experience every day, but most likely don't know that actually is related to how our jaw grows and develops.

[00:01:36] I spent my life working in dentistry and pediatric dentistry when we started Tooth Pillow, it was really to spread awareness of all these kiddos that are suffering, right? And there's just symptoms after symptoms that we see in these children.

[00:01:49] I've seen many health histories in all of my years working in medical and dental. And half the time, I don't know if I'm looking at the health history of an 85-year-old or an 8-year-old. [00:02:00] And we are so good in this country of treating the symptoms, but very few people are focused on treating the root cause and that's what we're passionate about at Tooth Pillow is, you know, we're not interested, I don't wanna medicate any more kids, right?

[00:02:12] We wanna figure out the root cause of these signs and symptoms parents are experiencing, and that's why Tooth Pillow was born. So we can get to the root cause of these issues for parents. 

[00:02:21]  Autumn Carter: is this a pillow? Tell us about this part.

[00:02:23] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: the name Tooth Pillow is a cute name. born intentionally, if we had oral appliances that looked like medieval torture device, we would get exactly zero children to wear them, right? So actually it was Dr. Kelly Hale, who's one of our founders. 

[00:02:36] this is not new technology. These appliances have been out since the late eighties, just nobody knew about 'em. in her practices, Dr. Callie Hale, when she was delivering an appliance to a child would say, this is a pillow for your teeth, and I want you to wear this every night when you go to bed.

[00:02:51] so that's how the name Tooth Pillow was born. Tooth Pillow is an oral appliance. like a fancy mouth guard, but it does much more. 

[00:02:59] it focuses [00:03:00] on nasal breathing. We want the tongue resting in the roof of the mouth, so our kids are nasal breathing all night long.

[00:03:06] We wanna get the musculature really strong in the jaw right form follows function. when we fix the function of the jaw cheeks, and the lips and the tongue, then the teeth, the dentition follow after that. And that's the goal of tooth pillow. 

[00:03:20] we combine oral appliance therapy. And myofunctional therapy.

[00:03:24] 

[00:03:24]  Autumn Carter: Explain that for the rest of us. 

[00:03:26] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: I didn't know what it was either. For a long time myofunctional therapy, think of that like physical therapy, but for the tongue, cheeks and lips. we have over 20 functional therapists here at Tooth Pillow.

[00:03:36] They are hygienists that went to additional schooling in order to help those muscles train and grow and develop. And so we combine both those therapies to get the best outcomes for our kids. 

[00:03:49] But we should really back up even further, right? 

[00:03:51] Like, why was tooth pillow even needed? Why are our kids so underdeveloped?

[00:03:56] there have been many studies on this, I get this question all the time, right? [00:04:00] I travel around the country, going to dental offices, pediatric dental offices, right? And we see this everywhere. And so just because it's common doesn't mean it's normal, 

[00:04:09] a hundred years ago, were there orthodontists. Nobody was getting braces Were there oral surgeons? Nobody got their wisdom teeth out So it begs the question like, what happened? Like why did, suddenly we had big enough jaws to fit all 32 teeth 

[00:04:23] Nobody got their wisdom teeth out. suddenly 82% of the kids need braces, and over 75% get their wisdom teeth out. So what happened, Are our jaws suddenly smaller? that was the question. So a lot of very smart people, much smarter than me, did a lot of research on that.

[00:04:41] They went to rural populations, Sub-Sahara Africa, Inuit tribes in Alaska. these people don't have access to oral surgeons and orthodontists, right?

[00:04:50] They're not getting braces. the difference was what they did for their babies, 

[00:04:54] Those mothers breastfed their children for two to three years at a time. That totally changes how [00:05:00] our face develops. I'm never going to mom shame 

[00:05:02] I'm a mom. I could not breastfeed for two to three years. I went back to work, so I did the best I could for six weeks, and then my babies got a bottle in their mouth. When a baby's breastfeeding, that baby's working really hard to extract milk.

[00:05:15] They're using their muscles, cheeks, tongue, lips, working hard developing those muscles. But when we put a bottle in a baby's mouth? The nipple goes on the tongue and lays flat, and the milk just flows much easier.

[00:05:27] Baby's not having to work as hard, right? They're not developing those muscles. Then what do those moms do after they breastfeed for two to three years? They transition them to a hard root diet. Think jerkies, hard root vegetables, But here in America? We start with soft food.

[00:05:43] Purees. Melt in your mouth, baby. Gerber feud. I have all these things in my house. Why we don't want 'em to choke, right? Nobody wants their baby to choke. But the difference is the oral dexterity, right? Those baby that breastfed for those many years, their tongues, cheeks, lips are strong, able [00:06:00] to handle those kinds of foods.

[00:06:02] Our baby's very weak tongues, and the tongue is not resting in the roof of the mouth so baby's not developing that way. it starts with baby. So people all the time say, well, my kiddo's gonna have terrible teeth because I had terrible teeth. He's gonna need braces because his dad had braces.

[00:06:19] And that's just not the case, It is not inherited. Malocclusion, is caused by Western civilization not genetics. And that's what a lot of people don't know. so that's the root cause we're trying to fix 

[00:06:31] oral dysfunction.

[00:06:33]  Autumn Carter: Wow. 

[00:06:33] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: Can you show the device Yes, I do have a picture. The tooth pillow looks like that. it comes in different colors, like pink and purple.

[00:06:43] And like I said, it does look like a mouth guard, but it does so much more than that. There's a picture of my two and a half year old wearing his tooth pillow at night. it has important features And I always like to explain that 'cause parents are like, I'll just go pick up a mouth guard at Walmart.

[00:06:59] So we know the [00:07:00] importance of nasal breathing, over mouth breathing, anytime a mom's like, my kiddo has this, this, and this going on, right? A DD, A DH, D, bedwetting, mouth breathing, snoring, chronic cavities, swollen tonsils, and adenoids. I always ask does your kiddo sleep with their mouth open?

[00:07:16] 90% of the time moms say Yes. you've seen your friends post on Instagram, their kiddos passed out in the car seat and they're like, look how cute. He's so tired. And the kid's like. And sleep. And I cringe every time because I'm like, no, your baby should not be sleeping with their mouth open.

[00:07:31] when we breathe through our mouth, it's unfiltered. not warmed, not purified, It's dry, dirty air hitting the back of the throat. We see a lot of kiddos that have swollen tonsils and adenoids from that versus the nose, right? The body is an amazing thing.

[00:07:45] The nose is a built-in natural filter, right? It warms purifies, humidifies as it literally acts as what we call a vast dilator and helps move the oxygen throughout the cells of our body the way it was intended. You can fall into REM [00:08:00] sleep much quicker. All of these things happen if you've seen mouth taping for adults.

[00:08:04] on Instagram 

[00:08:05]  Autumn Carter: heard of it, yes. 

[00:08:06] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: my husband. snores, he mouth tapes every night, right? And when he mouth taps, he wakes up. He feels like a better person, right? He's like, man, the bags under my eyes are gone. All of those things because he was nasal breathing all night.

[00:08:19] we would never recommend mouth taping for children, of course. But the tooth pillow, the most important part of it. Is there's a tongue tab in the top of it, and that tongue, right, we talked about how important it is that the tongue is in the roof of the mouth. That tongue tag acts as like a workout mechanism, right?

[00:08:34] Anytime there's anything foreign in the mouth, like food stuck in your teeth Your tongue wants to go and play with it, you're like, man, that's driving me nuts. Same thing. That tongue wants to hit that tongue tab and it's like a workout for the tongue, getting it really strong so that the kiddo is resting with their tongue in the roof of the mouth.

[00:08:50] That's the proper tongue posture for growth and development. the phlange is on it. They're a little bit wide, like wider than a mouth guard, and the goal of that's pulling the cheeks [00:09:00] off the teeth, right? Essentially taking away that muscle pressure so that we can get a nice wide U-shaped arch.

[00:09:06] I always compare it. if you know Julia Roberts She has a dentist dream smile, that's what we wanna see in our kids. The front of it is a bit bulky, Most kiddos, their tongue cheeks and lips aren't strong enough to fully close around the tooth pillow, and that's okay, 

[00:09:20] the oral dysfunction is there, it's thick enough to where it creates like an artificial lip seal so that we're promoting that nasal breathing. While we're still working on the strength of those muscles to get them strong, our kiddos sleep with their tooth pillow in all night long, and then one to two hours during the day, which helps train those muscles, 

[00:09:38] getting to the root cause of what's going on with our kids is the goal. 

[00:09:42]  Autumn Carter: How do you get them to wear it for one or two hours 

[00:09:44] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: Yeah, it's a great question. we get the compliance question a lot, 

[00:09:49] Tooth pillow works when it's worn. Kind of like going to the gym, right? You can have a membership, but unless you go, it's not gonna work. And so we have made it really fun, and I delivered [00:10:00] appliances in dental offices for years and we had to make that experience really fun for the kids in order to get them to wear it.

[00:10:06] So I always tell the story of my son Henry, and I started him when he was barely three years old, right? And so when the tooth pillow box got delivered, it came from the tooth fair. We were very excited. He gotta name it, he named it Bluey. So if he wanted to watch Bluey, he had to wear Bluey, 

[00:10:23] we started small. we work our way up to the tooth pillow box, It comes with solly pops, suckers a rewards chart. And. Stickers. they decorate their appliance case, which my son calls his bluey house. we make it fun and interactive for the kids 

[00:10:37] the first time he wore it for an hour, we went to the dollar store, he got a prize the first time he fell asleep with it in his mouth. We went to Target, he got a new dinosaur, I tell moms, you know what makes your kid tick best, Use that it takes time, 

[00:10:50] This is a marathon, not a sprint, Oral dysfunction didn't develop overnight, so it's not going to fix overnight. that's the goal with tooth pillows. we are gonna slowly fix things to get back to where [00:11:00] they should be.

[00:11:00] When we force things fast, it can retract and go back. And so we wanna go stable as they're growing over time is the goal, and younger is better. Parents don't think that they're like, oh, I'll wait till they're older. But the truth of that is our skull, our head, our jaw is over 95% developed by the time we're 12.

[00:11:17] So the longer we wait, our window to do anything gets smaller. the younger you start the better. Why wait when our kids are suffering with these symptoms? moms know their kids best, and I tell 'em to use that 

[00:11:28] you know what makes your kid tick? it becomes part of their routine, like brushing their teeth putting their seat belt on, 

[00:11:33]  Autumn Carter: it's funny you mentioned Julia Roberts because I was thinking of her four days ago.

[00:11:37] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: She's my best dental example 

[00:11:39]  Autumn Carter: I had my teeth cleaned and I was just thinking about like, did she just have a dentist on call, or do they do that with movie stars in general, 

[00:11:47] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: you know, she's a dentist dream. If I was a hygienist, I'd be like, I want every patient to have a Julia Roberts smile, 

[00:11:52] Really wide., All our kids should want to be as wide as that. We have too many people that are narrow and they've gotta be wider. this is [00:12:00] airway treatment for kids. There's airway treatment for adults, right? For people who don't look like Julia Roberts, but it's very difficult for adults, 

[00:12:08] It's long, hard, painful and expensive. my husband right now because, you know, he's a healthy 5-year-old male that has severe sleep apnea as an adult. And he's athletic triathlete. He still needs expansion, right? Because he just didn't have it as a kid and so he mouth he snores, and he truly could be on A-C-P-A-P if we weren't doing something for his airway.

[00:12:33] instead of a guidance appliance like we're doing for our kids, he's having his palette broken open at the top, eight screws put in in order to expand it. It's called a PY device, I tell parents we don't want our kids to go through that.

[00:12:46] He's more adamant about our kids wearing their tooth pillow than I am because he doesn't want them to experience what he's going through. 

[00:12:53]  Autumn Carter: got a sleep number. I sleep better 'cause he's not snoring 

[00:12:56] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: Exactly. Yeah. having that little bit of elevation is helpful too.

[00:12:59] [00:13:00] Welcome. Are you craving moments that nourish your soul and family amidst the blur of daily tasks? I understand that desire for a life that brings peace, balance, and joy, not just endless to-dos. That's why I created a range of programs that wellness and every season to help you transform daily routines into meaningful experiences.

[00:13:20]  Autumn Carter: I've launched offerings for busy budget conscious individuals, some free and others starting at $7. Many can be completed in minutes or hours while others dive deeper into exploring your dreams, desires, and unique strengths. These programs focus on practical self-care, creating equity in your home, and building trust with yourself.

[00:13:41] Imagine stepping into your day with confidence feeling supported by a community on a similar path. Whether you're looking to reclaim time, pursue your dream job, or simplifying joy in the little moments, there's something here for you. resources are available on demand at wellness and every [00:14:00] season.com.

[00:14:00] You can also book private coaching sessions for personalized support on your journey.

[00:14:04] it freaks me out. I wake up and I'm like, oh, can't fall asleep again. Turned that off. But I actually was a drooler instead of a snore. And through getting braces, I don't drool anymore.

[00:14:18] So my skin's better. My pillow's dry. I'm sleeping better. It makes a huge difference. 

[00:14:24] How does this correlate with ADHD. 

[00:14:28] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: Great question that's a big symptom, 

[00:14:30] there was a study at Laurie Children's Hospital in Chicago, and they actually studied kiddo, set mouth, breathe kiddo, nasal breathe, and kiddos that had been diagnosed with a DR. A DD or ADHD, and they could not tell a difference between kiddos who were mouth breathers and kiddos who had been diagnosed with a DD or ADHD because the symptoms were all the same.

[00:14:50] And what's interesting about that is we see kiddos that have poor behavior in the morning, and nobody ever asks how these kids sleep, the behavior comes out [00:15:00] poorly in school. And teachers do what they know to do, which is, you should go get little Johnny evaluated.

[00:15:04] But nobody ever asks how little Johnny sleeps, and so us as adults, we have the dexterity to know, like, man, I slept terrible last night. I slept like crap. I couldn't fall asleep. I tossed and turned, whatever it was, you just know you're not at a hundred percent the next day. Kids don't have the dexterity to say that,

[00:15:20] they don't know they slept terrible. So it comes out as poor behavior, and then that poor behavior goes to school, and then we don't know what to do with it. So we go get them evaluated and they get put on medication. 

[00:15:32] Most common age is five. The youngest I've seen is two. this gets me because we're overstimulating them to calm. then wondering why they can't fall asleep So they go on a sleep aid and now their schedule's screwed up. we put this kid on anxiety medication, and as a mom, I'm like, we're doing this to a 6-year-old.

[00:15:49] And this was my husband, right? In kindergarten, he struggled through school his entire life. I wish somebody would've asked, how does he sleep? Does he sleep with his mouth open? Is he not falling into REM sleep? [00:16:00] Is he tossing and turning all night he's never able to truly rest.

[00:16:04] And it's coming out as exhaustion. it's amazing what we see with these kiddos where they start nasal breathing we fix the function they start sleeping well and symptoms drop off. meaningful work I've ever done 

[00:16:16] Because it's so much more than dentistry, I've been in dentistry so long, nobody ever cried and gave me a hug because my office did a great filling. But I have had moms break down in tears because their 9-year-old is able to go to their first sleepover because they stopped.

[00:16:29] I've had moms break down in tears because their second grader got an A on a spelling test and they came off Ritalin. That stuff is so rewarding to me. And that's why we're so passionate about what we do. 

[00:16:41]  Autumn Carter: I've never noticed her snoring when I come in, but she does sleep with her mouth open. the other one definitely has ADHD.

[00:16:50] he passes out quick. when I'm tucking in my oldest, 

[00:16:53] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: these kids are exhausted, I tell parents all the time, I mean, they'll be like, they're so cranky when we pick 'em up from school, they fall [00:17:00] asleep, you know, on the car, on the ride home.

[00:17:01] It's meltdown central during homework that's not normal. Nine year olds should have endless energy. They shouldn't be like US adults where we're like, oh, we're tired all the time because we're busy adulting nine year olds should have boundless energy. that's always a red flag to me.

[00:17:16]  Autumn Carter: Absolutely. So for my oldest, he's about to be 11. He'll ask why he can't stay up as late as other kids. I remind him your parents aren't divorced. We still like each other. We talk 

[00:17:29] we're aware you need the most sleep he's a deep thinker. into robotics 

[00:17:33] you need your sleep. Otherwise, we all suffer, not just you. So you're gonna bed. Yeah. 

[00:17:39] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: And quality sleep. He needs quality sleep. parents all the time I'll be like, how does he sleep? And they'll be like, yeah, he sleeps 9, 10, 11 hours. I'm like, but how? What's the quality of the sleep?

[00:17:49] I would rather your kiddo get five to six hours of quality sleep than eight to 11 hours of I tossed and turned, I woke up How many times. Right. Never falling into rem. [00:18:00] They're not rested. Right. And that's 

[00:18:02] Grinding of teeth. Anytime I hear mom say, oh, they grind their teeth, that is a huge red flag. 

[00:18:07] Grinding is actually the body's way of trying to open the airway because they're not getting enough oxygen while they sleep. How scary is that 

[00:18:14]  Autumn Carter: Pretty sure it's trauma coming through in my dreams, it makes sense for other kids both. 

[00:18:19] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: I didn't realize how my 

[00:18:20]  Autumn Carter: grinding was until I had Invisalign. 

[00:18:23] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: We'll see kiddos that have such poor oral dysfunction that they'll just grind through and that's a huge red flag for us. 

[00:18:31] We want kiddos to make sure they're getting enough oxygen at night. 'cause those kids become adults with sleep apnea and are on A-C-P-A-P. And that's what we wanna prevent. We can prevent all of those things. Right. 

[00:18:41] You mentioned bedwetting.

[00:18:43] That's a big one. And it's not a symptom that moms are like going around like my kid wets the bed. Right? Like it's this. We don't share that. It's almost a little bit embarrassing 'cause nobody wants to be like my 9-year-old wets the bed. 

[00:18:53] 

[00:18:53]  Autumn Carter: See it's a guy movie. my uncle took me, and he thought it, was great 

[00:18:57] But yeah, I know it. He was interested in a [00:19:00] girl that brought the girl home and the mom trying to scare her off is like, he still wants the bed 

[00:19:04] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: Oh gosh. 

[00:19:05]  Autumn Carter: Yeah. 

[00:19:05] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: I talked to and they're like, I went the bed till I was 14. I didn't know. I'm like, yeah.

[00:19:11] Nobody knew. Nobody was talking about it, All related to airway and how they sleep. The brain is an amazing thing, and it will pull oxygen from other systems when it's lacking oxygen. So on kiddos, right? These are adults wake up five, six times a night to use the bathroom.

[00:19:26] Not normal, right? We have the dexterity to wake up and go to the bathroom. kiddos, don't have that dexterity like adults do. So the brain will pull oxygen from other systems, pulls it from the urinary tract and it voids and we wet the bed.

[00:19:38] Lack of oxygen. are red flags to me as a parent if a mom doesn't decide to go through tooth pill treatment, that's okay 

[00:19:46] As long as she's educated. Let me tell you what might help your kiddo, this affects the household, I've had dads break down in tears because they felt terrible, They're yelling at their 9-year-old, like, you're too old to be wetting the bed, 

[00:19:56] Making them feel terrible, then they find out it's not their kiddo's [00:20:00] fault there's guilt all these parents, need to know, it changes the household, Mom's upset every morning, she's changing the sheets, it just can completely change the way a household runs.

[00:20:09] every mom deserves to know that. that's why it's so important. 

[00:20:13]  Autumn Carter: Yeah. 

[00:20:22] So let's back up and what do you recommend for even finding out how your kids breathe at night and walk us through that. 

[00:20:23] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: Yeah. And why would you? my challenge to parents is 

[00:20:26] Peek at your kids, Set an alarm before bed 10 30, 11 o'clock at night, whatever it is. 

[00:20:31] And look at your kiddo. See how they're sleeping, right? Is their mouth open? Are they flipped around the other side of the bed, right? They're flipping and flopping like monkeys all night long. Do you go in in the morning and the sheets are all tangled up?

[00:20:43] In the morning is your morning just meltdown central, right? All signs that your kiddos. not sleeping right. 

[00:20:48] I recommend this to every mom, get your kiddos airway evaluated. 

[00:20:51] Ben Mariah, who's one of our founding, dentists here at Tooth Pillow. In the last three years, he screened over 27,000 children [00:21:00] through tooth pillow. Only one has not had a symptom of sleep, disordered breathing or under development. Outta 27,000 kids, 

[00:21:09]  Autumn Carter: how do you screen them and Who do we go to? ENT Dentistry?

[00:21:13] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: That's tooth pillow. That's what tooth Pillow does. out of 200,000 dentists less than 5,000 are trained in airway, and less than a thousand are pediatric dentists. 

[00:21:21] And that's part of the reason Tooth Pill was founded was to solve for that, right? How do we get more moms knowing about this so we can help more kids 

[00:21:29] So when a mom goes to tooth pillow.com. And she can do an airway assessment on her kiddo.

[00:21:34] We asked her 10 to 12 questions, which we call a sleep and breathing questionnaire, which are gonna ask all those questions that you and I talked about already. And then a mom is gonna submit six photos of her kid and we can tell so much by photos of the teeth, right? It's their profile, it's their side profile, it's our mouth.

[00:21:54] Upper arch, lower arch, how they bite. All of those things we can tell under development in the jaw, [00:22:00] it's very, very easy to tell for doctors, right. Early intervention is always the way to go. And so we can prevent so many things later on by starting earlier, and it all starts with an airway evaluation.

[00:22:10]  Autumn Carter: Hi. 

[00:22:13] I hope you are enjoying this show, and I just wanna take a quick minute to share with you two things that are going on in the background that I'm very excited to announce. The first one is that if you are interested in experiencing any of these healing modalities that the guests that I'm interviewing or that even I'm speaking on during my solo episodes.

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[00:23:05] This is your chance to take something that feels just so out there and it sounds great if you work with that person and bringing this into, I have needs right now. How can I have them met? This sounds amazing what this person is talking about, but I wanna see this actually happen with one of my peers that has something similar.

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[00:25:02] how long does the tooth pillow last? Per kid. how do you clean them? 

[00:25:07] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: Yeah, no great questions. So every tooth pillow treatment plan is two years long, 24 months. because we see the greatest change in kids in two years, 

[00:25:16] kids grow fast, they're so moldable, right? We can do so much for a kiddo in two years versus adults, So at the end of that two years, your airway dentist.

[00:25:24] We'll evaluate, where's their growth and development now? Do we just need cruise control? Do we need to do something else? Where are we at? Right? Every kiddo grows and develops differently, and so we're monitoring that progress for cleaning it.

[00:25:35] Just toothbrush and toothpaste, right? No denture cleaner. Don't put it in a microwave. Don't put it in boiling water. None of that. And it's made with medical grade polymer. So it rinses off easy, right? It doesn't get all nasty and grimy. My son just rinses his and puts it back in his bluey house every morning.

[00:25:52] That keeps it clean. 

[00:25:54]  Autumn Carter: does your insurance cover this 

[00:25:56] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: some insurances will cover it. under an orthodontic [00:26:00] benefit. we will help moms with that to an extent by giving them a super bill and anything they need to submit to their insurance for reimbursement.

[00:26:07] it depends on the insurance plan But some moms get great reimbursements 

[00:26:10] we get the braces prevention question a lot.

[00:26:12] We should talk about that, Everybody's expecting their kids to go into braces. But like my son Henry, I started him in three at Tooth Pillow. We're gonna get enough growth and development out of him.

[00:26:22] I expect him to never need braces. it's my mission to make that happen, I had braces twice. an expander twice, and as an adult I still had teeth moved this is why you see so many adults in Ortho and Invisalign, 

[00:26:34] Because we all had it as kids. And what happens when you get your braces off, You get a retainer. Does everybody wear their retainer for the rest of their life? No way. If you're like me, you did not wear your retainer, so now you have all these adults and Invisalign, right?

[00:26:48] Because it wasn't stable growth. So the goal with the kids, right, is because they're still growing their head, their neck, their skull still developing 95% at the age of 12, right? We have that time where we're [00:27:00] getting stable growth. So my son. The goal is for him never to go to the orthodontist because we started young enough, right?

[00:27:06] He's gonna have enough space for all his teeth to come in, right? Crooked and crowded teeth are a sign of an underdeveloped jaw, and that's what a lot of people just don't understand. So that's the goal. We see a lot of kiddos that can prevent braces, 

[00:27:18] clear aligners. For 12 to 18 months. More aesthetic fixes than anything, right? Because we fixed the root cause again, is the goal of that. So braces prevention, we get that question a lot from moms because they're like, man, if I'm gonna spend money on this, which it still ends up being about the third of a cost of braces, that would be a huge added benefit, 

[00:27:35]  Autumn Carter: So if you have somebody who has a clear retainer for braces, can they still put it on along with it? So like my oldest, he did the expander and he did the braces, but he's 11, so mm-hmm. He's still on track to probably need them again as a teenager. Can he do that with the clear aligner? we don't [00:28:00] usually have to I think Invisalign.

[00:28:01] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: Clear retainer, yeah. a lot of people get them confused we don't like kiddos to be in any ortho treatment while doing tooth pillow. And so that's intentional, right? Because we wouldn't wanna have treatments reacting with one another.

[00:28:14] And so that's the goal. So tooth pillow treats, kiddos, ages three to 12. Currently, I will say the closer we get to 12, the less likely there to be a candidate for tooth pillow treatment. And that goes back to their development is going. Right. Because again, we've got a small window of time, so the younger kiddos are the greater the chance.

[00:28:33] Tooth pillow can help from an early intervention standpoint. But those that get older, we don't have enough time. And so those kids we're gonna refer in office to get fixed expansion. your kiddo had an expander. we wanna get them as wide as we can, when we have a limited amount of time with that.

[00:28:50] So it depends on the kiddo 

[00:28:51]  Autumn Carter: what's the efficacy if they aren't wearing them during the day and only at night? 

[00:28:55] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: my child does not wear his one to two hours a day.

[00:28:57] He wears it only at night, and we're [00:29:00] still getting movement in his teeth. I love to show his progress photos because I mean, he started, he was a Passy kid, right? Kids that have habits, pacifier habits, thumb habits, things like that. All great candidates for tooth pillow, 

[00:29:11] my son was a passi kid. Every baby tooth was touching, almost tipped in, and now he's so wide that we have a nickel of space between every baby tooth, which is exactly what we wanna see for growth and development. And he's just worn it at night. 

[00:29:26] It just slows the progress. 

[00:29:28] myofunctional therapy is a big component of that. Right? Does your kiddo do the myofunctional therapy exercises because that helps progress treatment further. So it's how much time do we have, right? 

[00:29:38]  Autumn Carter: there's exercises too, which sets you apart from store bought.

[00:29:43] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: absolutely. these are doctor monitored, I would never recommend picking up an appliance from Alibaba or Walmart or whatever because you are still wearing an oral appliance that is not overseen by a doctor. Every tooth pillow parent has an airway dentist tracking progress through the Tooth Pillow app and making [00:30:00] sure they're on the track for growth and development.

[00:30:01] There's several different appliances we use, and it depends on how your child's jaw bite age and development So don't just buy any appliance and put it in their mouth.

[00:30:09] You want it monitored by a doctor. 

[00:30:12]  Autumn Carter: So it's not specially made for them, but you have different shape, sizes, whatever of already. 

[00:30:17] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: Based on the dentition, think of it like shoe sizes, We're guiding growth and development. We wouldn't want it fitted to every tooth because that would be a retainer and that would restrict growth, and we wanna promote growth.

[00:30:27] So it's more like a trough of a shoe size, we're trying to fix that muscle function to get that wide growth forward. I will say, when they get into what we call mixed dentition, so they've lost baby teeth and they're getting adult teeth in, and there's a mixture of adult and baby teeth.

[00:30:41] There's more sizes in that fit more particularly, as they age, it gets more complex as they get older. 

[00:30:48]  Autumn Carter: So 

[00:30:48] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: you definitely want an experienced airway dentist. not every dentist is airway aware. There's specialized training they have to go to become airway dentists 

[00:30:56] you wanna make sure you go to somebody specialized for that. 

[00:30:59]  Autumn Carter: [00:31:00] What are we missing from this conversation? 

[00:31:03] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: every mom, it's what I wish every mom would know, It starts in the womb it comes with us our whole life, I wanna prevent kids from having symptoms forever, we treat the root cause now, or treat the symptoms forever.

[00:31:13] And that's what we wanna avoid, right? And so many moms just don't know, right? You should get your kids, airways evaluated and see if we can help or if they need a different type of help, every mom deserves to know.

[00:31:26]  Autumn Carter: And I'm thinking about the issues from not getting enough sleep and how this helps with weight Tiredness, bags under the eyes, mental health issues Emotions. So many things happen from not getting enough sleep 

[00:31:41] It just makes sense to me. 

[00:31:45] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: Yeah. it breaks my heart, I've been in it long enough now I was going through an airport last week coming back from Fort Lauderdale and I was just walking through the airport all these kids are just, I'm walking around, I'm like, oh my gosh, this poor baby.

[00:31:58] Big circles under the eyes, [00:32:00] mouth breathing, looks exhausted. you see it all the time and you can't unsee it. I'm like, mom, let me tell you what could help, because it doesn't have to be this way.

[00:32:09] Like you said, there have been studies that driving was. what is it if you're so sleep driving can be worse than drunk driving. And you think about that in kids and then we're shocked when they have meltdowns and poor behavior.

[00:32:19] yes, part of that is childhood and, our frontal cortex not being fully developed. But a huge part of that is sleep. emotional regularities. with kiddos. we can see that All the time. So that's what I want every mom to know, it doesn't have to be that way.

[00:32:34]  Autumn Carter: for anybody who's not so sure, go back to if you are a nose breather at night, go back to the times when you've been sick. How miserable is that? Especially if it's only on one side. That's worse. half your brain feels like it works, and halfway through the night you have to roll over to unclog that side to have a clog in the other side.

[00:32:57] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: There are children 'cause mouth breathing is rescue [00:33:00] breathing. when you're sick because you're stuffed up, you open your mouth because you're rescue breathing while sick. Right. That's a mechanism we do And it's okay while you're sick.

[00:33:08] But you can't do that forever. these kids are doing it all the time. You see these kids that just walk around Like they can't even do it. These poor babies, The roof of the mouth is the floor of the nose. if we have a jaw that's underdeveloped and tight, the roof of the mouth, that's the floor of the nose, 

[00:33:23] So they're not even able to get the right oxygen the mouth is dropping open, right? we've gotta go back to the root cause with these kiddos it's amazing what these parents will see in just weeks of their kiddo getting a good night's sleep. 

[00:33:35] It's about the symptoms of these kids. The teeth are like the happy thing that happens and you're like, oh, great. Now my kid has like a pretty smile. But really they're not mouth breathing. snoring, wetting the bed. We didn't have to get the tonsils and adenoids out all of these other symptoms.

[00:33:49] It's really the goal. 

[00:33:51]  Autumn Carter: So this makes it so you don't have to get things removed. 

[00:33:56] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: We have a lot of patients where we have been able to, because [00:34:00] we've fixed the mouth breathing, right? It's dry, dirty air hits the back of the throat, inflams the tonsils and adenoids.

[00:34:06] And so if we fix that, we get to the root cause and we have kids nasal breathing, we can reduce the swelling of the tonsil and adenoids. Now it's not every kid. But it is a lot of kiddos and an interesting fact I heard the other day actually from Dr. Mor is a 27% success rate for a tonsillectomy unless you fix mouth breathing 

[00:34:25] Those tonsils will grow back within 36 months and you will be redoing the same surgery all over again. 

[00:34:31]  Autumn Carter: didn't realize they grew back. 

[00:34:32] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: They can grow back. 

[00:34:33]  Autumn Carter: And nowadays that I have seen kids that have all of it removed, but 

[00:34:38] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: Wow. And they grow back nastier. so these kiddos have to have another surgery to get them removed.

[00:34:43] we have to fix the root cause of the mouth breathing. Interesting. Kids that get sick all the time, strep, Cavities. Kids that have chronic cavities. Moms will be like he just has so many cavities.

[00:34:54] But we don't keep hop in the house and he doesn't eat. Tootsie rolls all day we brush his teeth I use the [00:35:00] best, hydroxyapatite toothpaste, And I say, does he mouth breathe? it changes the microbiome of the mouth. You know when you've been mouth breathing 'cause you wake up like, water, I'm parched 

[00:35:09] Right. It's like a desert. the lips are stuck. 

[00:35:11] when that happens, it changes the microbiome of the mouth. saliva is like a car wash for the teeth. And when that dries out, changes the microbiome. It's not even sugar that causes cavities, it's acid.

[00:35:21] Acid causes decay, and a dry environment creates acid. And so kiddos who have chronic cavities are oftentimes mouth breathers. And even as adults, I see this all the time, People are like, oh, I just have cavities. you probably mouth breathe, You gotta brush your teeth too, but mouth breathing is a huge part of that.

[00:35:38]  Autumn Carter: Who 

[00:35:38] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: And that's tenfold. 

[00:35:39]  Autumn Carter: Right? Yeah. And then I went from Invisalign to braces. Little tooth moved and he told me I didn't have to. I'm like, you know, I've gone this far, I'm gonna do it all the way knowing that my teeth are gonna do it.

[00:35:49] They're not gonna be as perfect as as soon as everything's done. And going from Invisalign where I could close my mouth easily to braces where I have like [00:36:00] over my braces. It makes sense why so many teenagers, this is my first time having braces, but I remember all my teenage friends saying they had so many cavities because even just these make it harder to close your mouth all the way.

[00:36:13] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: Yeah, close your mouth all the way. And again, how many of those kids were mouth breathers? they got braces which made it worse. they're teenagers, not good at brushing their teeth Right? they get the braces off and have a cavity on every tooth.

[00:36:24] thank goodness you have straight teeth, but you're probably gonna have veneers by the time you're 45 because you have a cavity on every tooth. It just is so silly. And this is my husband, He had a cavity on every tooth.

[00:36:33] My dad was a dentist how do we prevent that in our kids braces are tough on teeth. 

[00:36:38]  Autumn Carter: Well, and I did not finally forgive my parents for not putting me in braces until, maybe a month ago, it's only here in the top teeth.

[00:36:50] Having to figure out how to floss in there and do all that and just for the 16th teenage me would not have done any of that I'm brushing my teeth. That's good enough. 

[00:36:58] taking the time to figure out how [00:37:00] to do it right. I talked to my dentist but The hygienist was the one who took the time to, okay, try this. No, try this tool. Okay, take that tool home type of thing. I would not have done that as a teenager, so it's really great to think about how much easier it would be to have appliance like this than braces.

[00:37:20] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: Yeah. Or do this as a kid and not need braces, right? Because most kids are so sick of braces. By the time they get 'em off, the last thing they wanna do is wear their retainer. And then mom just spent $6,000 at braces and it moves back. 

[00:37:31]  Autumn Carter: I've had teenage friends do that too. 

[00:37:34] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: Yeah, exactly They almost have fatigue from the orthodontist and braces right? It's like, man, we could have fixed this earlier braces are good at straightening teeth temporarily, is what a lot of our doctors say, and that's interesting to me.

[00:37:45]  Autumn Carter: I am wearing my, well, 

[00:37:46] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: your retainer right? As long as your lower teeth are gonna stay straight. 

[00:37:49]  Autumn Carter: And I really did not realize How much it was affecting me, until I had Invisalign and went to the chiropractor and all of a sudden I adjusted so much better. And that was only [00:38:00] change. 

[00:38:00] 

[00:38:00] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: Chiro is great. Fascia work also great, 

[00:38:02] birth trauma. And many factors can distress the oral dysfunction more. It's collaborative treatment looking at the whole body for these kiddos.

[00:38:09] The oral cavity is related to many things in the body, as you know. And so we look at all of those things. I'm really glad that your grindings reduced. 

[00:38:16]  Autumn Carter: I don't mouth breathe nearly. the only time I do is when I'm sick or sleeping on my back I'm a side sleeper and it's that first little bit and I'll snore one time and then I'm like, Nope, turn over and then I'm fine the rest of the night.

[00:38:29] No drool. It's perfect. And yeah, important to be able to do that for our children too. I love what you're saying 

[00:38:35] any last thoughts as we close 

[00:38:37] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: g

[00:38:39] et your kiddos airways evaluated, Early intervention is key treat symptoms now versus forever, 

[00:38:42]  Autumn Carter: Is the evaluation free 

[00:38:44] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: The evaluation is free. we want moms to have the information to make an educated decision for their kiddos. 

[00:38:49] So tooth pillow.com is my child a candidate? And then go ahead and complete that assessment and you'll be reached out to by one of our airway doctors, and you will have some answers. highly recommend every [00:39:00] mom doing it.

[00:39:00] we're very passionate about our mission at Tooth Pillow. 

[00:39:03]  Autumn Carter: it sounds like the cost will vary depending on the severity for your child.

[00:39:08] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: we have two plans. Both about a third of the cost of braces, but our two pillow essentials plan. Every plan does include some sort of malfunctional therapy, but tooth pillow essentials is the two years of the oral plan therapy. Plus an appointment with a Malfunctional therapist who's gonna give you a personalized plan for your kiddo.

[00:39:26] And that's 1995 for two years. And then we have what we call our recommended plan, which includes comprehensive malfunctional therapy, which is 10 one-on-one sessions with a Malfunctional therapist for your kiddos. So really for those kiddos who just are usually a little bit older and have increased oral dysfunction that we really need to go to good handle on.

[00:39:45] And that is 29 95 for two years. 

[00:39:48]  Autumn Carter: for everybody wondering. Yes. 

[00:39:49] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: everybody wants to know that, That's the meat and potatoes of it. there's payment plans and all the things, We never want money to be the reason or finances to be the barrier for a kiddo not getting the treatment that they [00:40:00] need and deserve.

[00:40:00] we try to work with our moms on figuring out a way to make that happen. 

[00:40:04]  Autumn Carter: can they pay with HSA and FSA. 

[00:40:08] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: H-S-A-F-S-A, Klarna affirm, CareCredit, We try to work with moms on what works best Perfect. 

[00:40:14]  Autumn Carter: And for anybody listening, please share this with others you know are struggling.

[00:40:20] And she mentioned mention again for us, if you're snoring, if there's ADHD, if there's bedwetting, mention the rest. 

[00:40:28] Erin Rice- Tooth Pillow: Grinding, snoring. ADHD, bedwetting, allergies, swollen tonsils and adenoids. Crooked or crowded teeth dark circles under the eyes, tiredness during the day, Behavioral things going on, any of those symptoms 

[00:40:43] please have your child evaluated by an airway dentist. Watch how they sleep. It's very important. 

[00:40:49]  Autumn Carter: Thank you. Please share this with those struggling 

[00:40:52] The website is listed in the show description as well as more information. So go ahead and check that out there. 

[00:40:59] Thank you so [00:41:00] much I appreciate it. Thanks for tuning into this week's episode. I am your host, autumn Carter, a certified life coach dedicated to empowering individuals to rediscover their identity, find balance, strengthen relationships, and pursue their dreams. My goal is to help people thrive I hope today's discussion inspired you and offered valuable insights.

[00:41:20] spread the word about our podcast and newsletter. Thank you for being part of our community. I look forward to continuing our conversation, and exploring wellness One last thing to cover legally, I'm a certified life coach giving general advice, so think of this more as a self-help book. This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. See you in next week's episode.