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Airway orthodontics in Clermont
Snoring, a mouth that hangs open, a smile that looks narrow. One free visit tells you whether your child's upper jaw is narrow, and what to do about it if it is.
Bring your child in for a free jaw check at Ogden Orthodontics on Citrus Tower Blvd. Dr. Robert Ogden, an orthodontist in Clermont since 1994, looks at the jaw and bite and tells you what he finds. If the upper jaw needs widening, the Leaf Self-Expander is $1,050. If it doesn't, he tells you that too.
No referral needed, and nobody asks you to decide that day.
“We just had our consultation for my son, and I know this is going to be the best place for his orthodontic care. Dr. Ogden and his staff were so kind, thoughtful, and knowledgeable. They made my family feel comfortable by taking the time to get to know us, and helped me feel informed by answering all my questions with detail and care. I’m really looking forward to working with Dr. Ogden and his team to give my son the best smile possible!”
Caroline Jarmusch, Google review of our Clermont office
Maybe your dentist mentioned that your child's palate looks narrow. Maybe you saw a video about mouth breathing, and now you notice the open mouth during homework, on the drive down US 27, and on the pillow every night.
You don't need another video. You need someone to look in your child's mouth and tell you whether the jaw is part of this.
Timing matters here. The upper jaw widens most easily while a child is still growing. As growth finishes, an expander moves the teeth more than the bone, so the options shrink the longer you wait.
You don't have to pick one doctor and wait, either. Call your pediatrician about the nose and tonsils, and book the free jaw check the same week. Dr. Ogden checks the part they don't. There's more about our team on the Clermont orthodontist page.
An airway orthodontist checks whether the shape of the upper jaw could be adding to a breathing problem, and widens the jaw when it's too narrow. It isn't a separate specialty, and it doesn't replace a physician.
If you're looking for an airway orthodontist in Clermont, that's what Dr. Ogden's free jaw check covers. He looks at the teeth and bite the way any orthodontist would, then at whether the upper jaw is narrow enough to matter. He says so when it isn't.
Most snoring in children comes from enlarged tonsils and adenoids or a stuffed-up nose. A narrow upper jaw is a less common cause, and it's the only one of the three an orthodontist treats.
Big tonsils and adenoids are behind a lot of childhood snoring. For children who have sleep apnea along with enlarged tonsils or adenoids, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends removing them as the first treatment. That's a job for your pediatrician and an ear, nose and throat doctor.
Allergies, colds and Central Florida's spring oak pollen can keep a nose blocked for weeks. A child who can't breathe through the nose breathes through the mouth. If the open mouth comes and goes with the seasons, your pediatrician is the place to start.
The roof of the mouth is also the floor of the nose. When the upper jaw is too narrow, the teeth often crowd or the back teeth bite inside the lower ones. In some children it also leaves less room to breathe through the nose.
This is the part Dr. Ogden checks and treats. Some children have more than one of these at once, and he can help you sort out which doctor handles what.
Take the 30-second quiz
Quick answer: a narrow smile, crowded teeth or a crossbite plus mouth breathing at rest is a good reason for a free jaw check. Snoring most nights, or any pauses or gasps during sleep, is also worth telling your pediatrician. Answer four questions to see what we'd suggest.
1. How old is your child?
2. What have you noticed most?
3. When do you notice the open mouth most?
4. Has a doctor looked at the breathing side yet?
You'll see what we'd suggest for your family and what to bring to your visit.
Your answers point you to a next step. They can't tell you what's going on, and only the exam can. If anyone is struggling to breathe, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.
Mouth breathing during hard exercise is normal. Mouth breathing while your child sits still or sleeps is the kind worth a closer look.
Clermont calls itself the Choice of Champions. Triathletes train at the National Training Center, cyclists climb Sugarloaf Mountain, and plenty of local kids spend their afternoons running, swimming and playing ball. Once a child is working hard, the nose alone can't move enough air, so the mouth opens.
The open mouth Dr. Ogden wants to hear about is the one you see when your child is watching TV, reading, riding in the car or asleep. That habit is worth checking, whether the cause turns out to be the nose, the tonsils or the jaw.
Dr. Ogden recommends widening only when the upper jaw is actually too narrow for the lower jaw and the bite. He starts with what you've seen at home, because you've watched your child sleep and he hasn't. Then he checks three things in the chair:
“Having practiced orthodontics for 30 years, I still wake looking forward to the day before me. I love meeting new people and spending time each day getting to know diverse, one-of-a-kind personalities. Our conversations provide me with a broad perspective of life and are a constant reminder of how truly fortunate and blessed I am to be afforded the privilege of each patient’s trust.”
Dr. Robert Ogden
A child can snore with a perfectly good jaw. If the width and bite look normal, Dr. Ogden tells you so and won't suggest an expander. You don't pay for an appliance your child doesn't need, and you know your pediatrician or an ENT is the right next call.
Free, about 30 minutes, and no one asks you to decide that day.
The jaw check takes about 30 minutes at our Citrus Tower Blvd office, and it ends with a straight answer.
The cephalometric X-ray, a side view of how the upper and lower jaws line up.
Busy week? Start with a virtual consultation: send pictures of your child's smile and bite, and our team gets back to you with Dr. Ogden's first impressions. Pictures can't show why a child snores, so plan on the in-office check for the full answer.
What Dr. Ogden can do for a narrow jaw depends mostly on how much growing your child has left.
The American Association of Orthodontists recommends a first orthodontic visit by about age 7. Most 7-year-olds Dr. Ogden sees don't need anything yet. When a narrow jaw or crossbite does show up, he can plan the best time to treat it. Read more about early orthodontic treatment.
The palate is still growing through these years, so widening works on the bone itself and not just the teeth.
It depends on how much growing is left. As growth finishes, expansion moves the teeth outward more than it widens the bone, so the X-rays decide what's realistic.
Adults can be treated too, in a different way. The adult options are further down this page.
The Leaf Self-Expander is a palate expander with no key to turn. Two leaf-shaped nickel titanium springs push the two halves of the upper jaw apart slowly, and most kids wear it 3 to 6 months. At our Clermont office it's $1,050.
If you had an expander as a kid, you may remember a parent turning a tiny key in your mouth every night. The Leaf, made by the Italian orthodontic company Leone, has no key, so there's nothing to do at home.
We take a digital scan of your child's mouth and 3D print the metal frame from it, so it fits snugly. It takes two visits to Citrus Tower Blvd: the scan, then placement. No separators, the little rubber spacers some expanders need between the back teeth.
The springs contain nickel, so tell Dr. Ogden at the free visit if your child has a metal allergy.
A digital scan replaces the old impression trays, and the expander frame is 3D printed from it.
An animation of how the Leaf Expander works.
Expect a few days of pressure after it goes in, and about a week of chewing and talking that feels a little strange. A gap can open between the two front teeth as the jaw widens. That's expected.
In children of about 7 to 9, the Leaf opened up the same nasal and upper-throat space as the key-turn kind, without the nightly key. Those studies, from Italy, didn't track sleep, and they used the first Leaf model rather than the Self-Expander Dr. Ogden places today.
So Dr. Ogden treats a narrow jaw for its own sake and counts easier breathing as a possible bonus.
Many kids who need expansion go on to braces in Clermont or Invisalign in Clermont later to finish straightening the teeth.
Clermont office
Half an hour, no referral, and you leave knowing whether an expander makes sense or who to call next.
Sometimes the snoring at night is yours. Dr. Ogden can help adults two ways: a sleep appliance after a physician's diagnosis, or, for some, a Leaf Expander for a narrow upper arch.
The Silent Nite from Glidewell is a custom mouthpiece you wear to sleep. It holds your lower jaw slightly forward so your airway is less likely to close during the night, and it can be adjusted to change how far forward it holds the jaw.
A sleep physician comes first. Under the 2015 guideline from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, the physician diagnoses snoring or sleep apnea and prescribes the appliance, and a dentist or orthodontist makes and fits it.
CPAP is often the first treatment for sleep apnea, and an oral appliance is an option for adults who can't tolerate it or prefer not to use it. The guideline also calls for a follow-up visit with your physician, sometimes with another sleep test, to make sure it's working.
We don't order sleep studies. If you've had one, bring the results. If you haven't, your doctor can order one, or ask us and we'll point you to a company that does sleep testing.
The Silent Nite costs $625 to $1,200.
Some adults with a narrow upper arch can be treated with the Leaf Expander too. Once growth is done, it moves the teeth outward more than it widens the bone, and the research on the Leaf so far was done in children, so Dr. Ogden will tell you what it can realistically do for you. If straightening your own teeth is also on your mind, see adult braces and Invisalign in Clermont.
The jaw check costs nothing. If your child needs a Leaf Self-Expander, it's $1,050, and you have that number in writing before you agree to anything.
Some dental plans include orthodontic coverage and some don't. When yours does, it's usually a lifetime maximum per child, so money used on an expander can leave less for braces later. Our front desk checks your benefit and tells you before you commit.
Plans we work with regularly include Delta Dental, DeltaCare USA, Cigna, MetLife, United Healthcare, Ameritas and The Standard.
Our in-house payment plans are 0% interest. We also offer financing through Cherry, a separate company, with terms that depend on approval, plus military discounts. Orthodontic treatment is generally eligible for HSA and FSA funds.
Our Clermont office is at 1381 Citrus Tower Blvd, just east of US 27, a few minutes from State Road 50 and the Turnpike interchange at Minneola, with free parking at the door.
Families come in from Minneola and Groveland along State Road 50, from Mascotte and Montverde, and from the Four Corners area to the south on US 27.
1381 Citrus Tower Blvd, Suite 102, Clermont, FL 34711
Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm
Closer to another office? Dr. Ogden also offers airway orthodontics in Windermere and airway orthodontics in Mount Dora, and you can switch offices during treatment without changing doctors or plans.
Yes. Dr. Robert Ogden checks children's and adults' jaws for airway concerns at Ogden Orthodontics, 1381 Citrus Tower Blvd in Clermont, and he has treated Clermont patients since 1994. Families come from Minneola, Groveland, Mascotte, Montverde and Four Corners across South Lake County, and the jaw check is free.
There isn't a separate license. An airway orthodontist is an orthodontist who also asks whether a narrow upper jaw could be affecting breathing. Dr. Ogden is an orthodontic specialist who checks the jaw, the bite and that question at the same free visit.
The jaw part is. A narrow upper jaw and a crossbite are real orthodontic problems, and widening the jaw fixes them. The breathing part is less certain: expansion may help some children breathe more easily, but the research is limited, so be wary of anyone who promises an expander will cure snoring or sleep apnea.
Yes. During hard exercise most people breathe through the mouth, because the nose alone can't move enough air. Mouth breathing at rest or during sleep is the kind worth mentioning to your pediatrician or at a jaw check.
It can. The American Academy of Pediatrics lists attention and learning problems, daytime sleepiness, bedwetting and morning headaches among the signs that a child who snores may need a sleep evaluation. Your pediatrician decides on that test, and a jaw check covers the jaw side of the question.
Not alone. The American Association of Orthodontists says orthodontists can spot warning signs and refer you, but a physician diagnoses sleep apnea, usually with a sleep study. Orthodontic treatment can be one part of the plan when the physician agrees.
No. You can book the free jaw check in Clermont directly, with no referral. If your child snores most nights or you notice pauses or gasps, call your pediatrician the same week so the breathing side gets checked too.
By about age 7, when the American Association of Orthodontists recommends a first orthodontic visit. The upper jaw widens most easily while it's still growing, so an early look gives you the most options, even though most 7-year-olds don't need treatment yet.
Sometimes not. The X-rays at the free visit show how much growth is left. The later it gets, the more expansion shifts the teeth instead of the bone, and Dr. Ogden will tell you which side of that line your teen is on.
Expect a few days of pressure once it's in. Talking and chewing can feel strange for about a week while your child gets used to it.
Sometimes. If your dental plan includes orthodontic coverage, it often pays part of an expander, up to a lifetime maximum per child. Our Clermont front desk checks your benefit before you commit.
$1,050 for a Leaf Self-Expander at Ogden Orthodontics in Clermont. The jaw check is free, some dental plans cover part of the cost, and our in-house payment plans are 0% interest.
A lot of kids do. Widening the jaw creates space, and braces or Invisalign line the teeth up afterward. The $1,050 covers the expander only.
Yes. A sleep physician diagnoses snoring or sleep apnea and prescribes the appliance first, and then Dr. Ogden can make the Silent Nite. Bring your results to a free consultation in Clermont.
Picture a few weeks from now. You know whether your child's jaw is narrow and whether it's part of the snoring. If it is, there's a plan and a price in writing while they're still growing. If it isn't, you know who to call next.
It takes about half an hour.
Free, about 30 minutes, no referral needed.
Reviewed by Dr. Robert Ogden, DDS, orthodontic specialist, orthodontic residency at the University of Florida. Last reviewed November 9, 2026.
