The Leader in Early Intervention and Non-Surgical Tongue-Tie Treatments.
Infant + Children
Early is Crucial
A baby’s head and upper jaw grow most rapidly between birth and age 2. By age 4, they are already 60% developed, and by age 6 the jaws are 80% grown. Early challenges—such as pregnancy stress, birth trauma, or feeding difficulties—can influence oral posture, airway and jaw development, and even sleep quality. These factors can leave a lasting imprint on both physical and mental well-being.
That’s why every infant benefits from an early assessment—first by an osteopath or cranial specialist, then by an airway-focused provider like AirSync and a skilled infant feeding specialist. Using our trademarked SANO Method™, we can identify concerns such as tongue-, lip-, or cheek-ties, oral dysfunction, high palates, nasal breathing challenges, nervous system imbalances, and cranial misalignment. Early guidance supports proper growth during the most critical stages. And while timely diagnosis can prevent bigger challenges later, it’s never too late to be evaluated.
Comprehensive treatments for
Our Tongue-Tie Approach
Tongue- and lip-ties aren’t just cosmetic—they influence jaw and airway growth, feeding, swallowing, sleep, and overall development. Because ties don’t resolve on their own, early evaluation by an experienced provider like AirSync is essential. We offer both non-surgical therapies and a gentle, minimally invasive release when needed. Our approach is designed to be effective, precise, and compassionate.
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Surgery May Not Be Necessary
Not every baby needs tongue-tie surgery right away—or at all. Treatment may be delayed to prepare tissues for optimal healing and to prevent trauma. We are an exclusive provider of BabyLase, a gentle light therapy that softens tight fascia, improves muscle movement, and helps us identify whether surgery is truly needed. In addition to resolving tissue ties, BabyLase optimizes neuromuscular coordination, balances cranial nerves, and resolves gestational as well as birth-related trauma.
Gentlest Surgical Approach
When a surgical release is needed, we begin with BabyLase to gently soften the tissues and reduce tension in the tie. Dr. Kimberly then performs the release using the LightScalpel CO₂ laser—a precise, pen-like instrument that separates and seals tissue at the same time. This results in minimal trauma, faster healing, and highly accurate outcomes. For older children, we also partner with Elite Anesthesia to provide on-site anesthesia, allowing your child to fall asleep safely and comfortably in your arms before treatment—without a hospital facility fee or the stress of handing your child to strangers in a waiting room. As you wish.
Healing takes about 30 days, and proper functional therapy and aftercare during this period are essential for the best results. Without this support, wound healing may be compromised, especially if the nervous system is in overdrive or if fascia tensions remain. That’s why our approach integrates airway care, nervous system regulation, and cranial balance to promote complete healing and reduce the risk of scarring or nerve complications.
Additional Needed Support
In many cases, AirSync will recommend oral motor therapy, feeding support, lactation guidance, or oral desensitization before a procedure. We also offer an in-house partnership with Becca Kneepkens, who specializes in infant feeding, oral motor development, and lactation care. And when your baby needs treatment or therapy beyond our scope, we work closely with a hand-selected group of trusted collaborators to ensure your child receives the highest level of care.
Special Training and Experience
To properly evaluate tissue ties, providers must understand optimal anatomy and optimal function. Because tethered tissue assessment is not part of dental or medical school training—including pediatrician and pediatric dentist education—many clinicians are not equipped to do this properly. Tongue-ties can be unidentified, misidentified, ignored, or overtreated surgically. Let AirSync help with optimal diagnosis and care.
At AirSync, we go beyond the average tongue-tie assessment. In addition to examining oral tissues, we include functional evaluations and reflex/neurologic assessments—giving us a more complete picture of how your baby’s mouth, airway, and nervous system are working together. This comprehensive approach helps us recommend only what is truly necessary.
Dr. Kimberly is a skilled and experienced surgeon with advanced training to treat delicate oral structures gently and precisely. Her expertise and over 10 years of specialty practice, combined with our holistic evaluation, ensures that your child receives the most accurate diagnosis and the safest, most effective care.
How Tissue Ties Develop
Oral ties begin forming around eight weeks of gestation. Some appear as obvious tissue bands, while others are hidden deeper in the fascia of the mouth.
It’s also important to know that not every restriction in the mouth is a true ‘tie.’ Sometimes fascia and muscle can be pulled into the midline from gestational or birth trauma, creating what we call a ‘masquerading tongue-tie.’ Interestingly, this can look, feel and function exactly like a tongue-tie that needs surgery—yet the underlying cause and treatment approach are very different.
Why Choose AirSync
AirSync is proud to be the one of the first practices in the Pacific Northwest to offer LightScalpel laser frenectomies, is the first BabyLase provider in Washington State, and the first to provide a non-surgical-first, minimally invasive functional approach. Our care is whole-body and nervous system informed, creating a strong foundation for healthy breathing, feeding, sleep, jaw growth, and lifelong wellness. Give your child the best start—call us today to schedule an evaluation.
Oral Function + Feeding: Infancy and Beyond
Humans are often born with functional issues that create early feeding struggles. This can be due to physical limitations of the tongue and lips (ties), unorganized reflexes for proper swallowing/sucking/breathing, nervous system dysregulation, age at birth, and more. These systems are deeply connected, so an imbalance in one impacts the others. And they can all impact how well an infant can breast or bottle feed, transition to solid foods, how well they can breathe through their nose, how well they can grow a healthy face and airway, and how well they can sleep.
That’s why AirSync created the SANO Method in which we identify oral dysfunctions and collaborate with feeding therapists, lactation consultants, oral myofunctional therapists, speech language pathologists, occupational therapists and physical therapists across the community. We offer in-house oral myofunctional therapy if you are not already working with a therapist. We also have partnered in-house with Becca Kneepkens MS, CCC-SLP, CLC who offers infant feeding therapy, lactation consulting, and early oral motor therapy.
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Toddlers + Children
Oral dysfunction and feeding problems don’t only show up in babies. Toddlers and older children may present with picky eating, fast eating, slow eating, difficulty swallowing, heightened gag reflexes, need for extra water during meals, tongue thrusts and more. Oral dysfunction manifests in many ways; physically what we may see is tissue/tongue-ties, misaligned or crowded teeth, small jaws, enlarged tonsils and adenoids, prolonged bedwetting, recurrent ear infections, mouth breathing, disrupted sleep, and so much more. Oral myofunctional disorders absolutely require a long-term plan to correct the root cause and avoid neurocognitive and physical deficits later in life.
How AirSync Helps
We assess children, toddlers and babies as young as 1 week old for oral myofunctional problems. We then develop near- and long-term solutions using our SANO Method™. These include referrals to the appropriate specialists, oral motor exercises, BabyLase or OraLase, tools like MyoMunchee/early intervention orthodontics, and more. Call AirSync today.
Breathing + Sleep + Growth
When a baby or child doesn’t breathe or sleep well, their body lives in a state of stress—excess cortisol, nervous-system overdrive, reduced oxygen, and disrupted rest. Over time, this imbalance can affect feeding, lead to irritability, and hinder healthy growth and development. As children get older, these same patterns often surface as challenges in school, sports, and friendships. They may be linked with missed growth milestones, anxiety, ADHD-like behaviors, chronic inflammation, or even changes in facial and brain development.
The good news: with the SANO Method™, many of these patterns can be identified early and redirected toward healthy breathing, restorative sleep, and optimal growth.
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Don’t wait
The earliest years are the easiest and most effective time to guide jaw, airway, and nervous-system development. Early intervention supports proper breathing, deep sleep, and cognitive growth—creating the foundation for lifelong health and resilience. The secondary benefits are making room for the adult teeth and proper jaw dimensions.
Give your child the best start: grow, sleep, and thrive with guided support through their most critical stages.
The Lasting Consequences in Adulthood
When airway and breathing challenges go unaddressed, they can evolve into lifelong conditions such as sleep apnea, fatigue, mood disorders, cardiovascular strain, and even dementia. No parent wants this trajectory for their child. Early evaluation changes everything—redirecting growth toward a healthier, more vibrant future.
The AirSync Advantage
AirSync is one of only a few practices nationwide exclusively focusing on infant and pediatric airway, breathing, sleep, and growth optimization—and the only one of its kind in the Pacific Northwest. Dr. Kimberly Santiago is recognized for her expertise, diagnostic precision, advanced treatment planning, and consistently transformative outcomes. With a full spectrum of cutting-edge tools and therapies, AirSync helps children breathe easier, sleep better, and grow stronger—naturally.
Why wait? Contact us today
The Importance of the Nose & Palate
We are meant to breathe through our nose—for dozens of vital reasons. Nasal breathing filters, humidifies, and warms incoming air, supporting immune balance, oxygenation, and nervous-system regulation. But modern life has made this instinct harder to maintain. The ability to speak, soft modern diets, pollution, and even frequent colds often shift children toward mouth breathing.
What few people realize is that the shape of the mouth influences the shape of the nose.
The palate forms the floor of the nose, and the upper jaw frames the nasal cavity itself. When the palate is too narrow or high, nasal passages become constricted, and airflow turns turbulent. By gently guiding the growth of the jaws and widening the palate from within the mouth, Dr. Kimberly Santiago can expand the space inside the nose—creating larger, smoother nasal channels and a more peaceful, passive airflow.
When nasal breathing becomes effortless, the nervous system calms, oxygen levels rise, and the whole-body functions better—from digestion and sleep to attention and emotional regulation.
At AirSync, early intervention harnesses this natural connection between jaw growth, nasal form, and airway function. By widening the palate and encouraging forward facial growth, we increase tongue space and airway depth—reducing tissue collapse and apneas. The result: beautiful + balanced faces, open airways, and awesome nasal breathing.
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How Poor Jaws and Palates Develop
Growth challenges often begin even before birth. Fetal positioning, birth stress, oral dysfunction, and tethered tissues can all restrict craniofacial development. These early imbalances are compounded by soft diets, inflammation, allergies, and mouth-breathing habits—reshaping the face, narrowing the airway, and affecting sleep, learning, and behavior.
Why Wait?
Growth can and should be guided in infancy or toddlerhood, alongside the natural time of most rapid craniofacial growth. Early care is gentle, efficient, well-tolerated and can prevent surgeries or the need for complex orthodontics later. Most importantly, early intervention is protecting your child’s brain and neurocognitive development. At AirSync, evaluation can begin within the first week of life—helping your child breathe, sleep, and thrive during their most critical years of development.
The AirSync Advantage
Dr. Kimberly Santiago is a recognized expert in early airway intervention and jaw expansion. Each plan begins with sophisticated diagnostics (CBCT imaging, sleep physiology analysis, nasal function testing, facial growth analysis, and oral functional evaluations) and a personalized roadmap to correct root causes and create lasting stability.
Our toolkit includes:
- Nuvola Clear Aligners, Custom 3D Expanders, MyoMunchee, MyoBrace
- MARPE (for complex cases)
- Nonsurgical or Minimally Invasive Tongue-Tie Surgery
- Oral Myofunctional Therapy
- Laser Therapy
- BabyLase & OraLase Therapies
- Oxidative Therapy
- Collaborative care as indicated
Together, these tools nurture nasal breathing, balanced facial growth, restorative sleep, and confident smiles—for life.
Why wait? Start your child’s airway journey with AirSync today.
Early Expansion = Healthy Face, Healthy Sleep, Healthy Brain
The face forms around the airway.
When a child breathes through the nose, the tongue acts like a natural expander and chewing signals the jaws to grow wide and forward. With mouth breathing, those signals are lost—jaws narrow, palates rise, nasal passages and airway shrink, and teeth crowd. This isn’t just cosmetic: years of stress chemistry, lower oxygen, and poor-quality sleep can affect attention, behavior, growth, and learning.
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Why not wait?
The conventional standard is to wait for the 6-year molars and the front eight teeth to erupt. By then, the strongest growth window has passed—too late for easy airway-guided change—and many neurocognitive effects may be difficult or irreversible to fully correct.
What early expansion does
This isn’t about avoiding braces; it’s about protecting the brain and optimizing sleep first:
- Enlarge the nasal and oral airway, support proper tongue posture, and restore restorative sleep
- Build a stable foundation for lifelong breathing, growth, and smiles
- Create room for adult teeth, often reducing the time and complexity of future orthodontics
A needed paradigm shift
Most traditional pathways (dentists, orthodontists, pediatric ENT/sleep, pediatricians) aren’t trained in an early-intervention, wellness model. Children deserve a new standard—one that doesn’t normalize disease in infancy and early years.
Give your child the most precious gift
If your child snores, mouth breathes, grinds teeth, wakes unrefreshed, or struggles with focus or behavior, don’t wait.
Schedule an AirSync Early Airway & Growth Assessment now.
Help your child breathe well today—so the face, brain, and body can thrive for a lifetime.
Parental Assessment
If your pregnancy or birth was anything other than completely typical, your child may be at higher risk for poor sleep, dysfunctional breathing, nervous system imbalance, or oral function challenges. Review the checklist of common symptoms below. If you mark more than a few items, we encourage you to call AirSync. Early evaluation makes treatment easier and can prevent long-term problems that are much harder to address later.
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Infants + Babies
Breast- or bottle-feeding challenges
Poor weight gain/failure to thrive
Snoring, choking sounds, not sleeping through the night after 6 months of age
Under eye circles or puffy, red eyes
Mouth-breathing
Excessive drool
Recurrent ear infections and/or colds
Reflux and/or colic
Fussy, irritable, stiffness, difficult to calm
Solid food transition struggles
Toddlers + Children
Missed developmental milestones
Restless or disrupted sleep, messy morning bed
Mouth-breathing, snoring
Respiratory issues including asthma
Diagnosis of sleep apnea
Speech delays and/or articulation issues
Recurrent ear, sinus infections, or colds
Enlarged tonsils/adenoids even if removed
History of a need for ear tubes
ADHD, anxiety and/or depression,
Aggressive behaviors, social struggles, emotional dysregulation
Reflux, constipation, and/or other gut issues
Prolonged bed-wetting
Frequent waking at night, sleepwalking, night terrors
Dental issues like grinding, crowded, crooked or worn baby teeth, or cavities
Bad breath
Prolonged pacifier use or finger-sucking
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Treatments and Tools We Use to help Infants & Children
Dr. Kimberly Santiago and her team have the latest equipment, offering the best diagnostic and treatment options. We provide effective options for calming the nervous system, no matter the age. Early intervention in infants and children can prevent life-long health issues, but adults also hugely benefit from our treatments. Our goal is gentle, restorative treatment that helps put life in your days, not just days your life. For details on some of the treatments, just click the box below. We also have an excellent referral network when work outside of our practice scope is necessary.