Adult Airway Orthodontics in Encinitas, CA
The symptoms you've been managing may have a structural cause.
You can't breathe through your nose, you snore, you don't sleep restfully, your bite feels off, your teeth are crowded — and you've probably been told to get a nightguard or just live with it. Dr. Skyler Liatti starts by looking at the structure underneath: the jaws, the airway, and how they relate. When the cause is structural, the solution often is too.
These are the things that bring adults in.
Most adults don't think of orthodontics when they're dealing with these symptoms. But they often trace back to how the jaws developed — and that's exactly what an orthodontic evaluation can uncover.
Difficulty breathing through the nose
If you've never been able to breathe comfortably through your nose, the cause may be a nasal airway that never had the room it needed. A narrow upper jaw means a narrow nasal floor above it, and mouth breathing becomes the default.
A bite that doesn't work
Teeth that don't meet the way they should, chewing that favors one side, a crossbite, a jaw that shifts when you close — signs of a bite compensating for a structural mismatch between the upper and lower jaws.
Crowding that keeps getting worse
Teeth that have shifted since your teens, lower front teeth more crowded every year. When the jaw isn't wide enough to hold the teeth, alignment is always fighting the structure underneath.
Jaw pain or TMJ problems
Clicking, locking, pain near the ear, difficulty opening wide. Jaw joint problems are rarely about the joint alone — they're often connected to how the upper and lower jaws fit together.
Snoring or poor sleep
Snoring that disrupts your partner's sleep, waking up tired, restless nights. When the jaws are narrow and the tongue doesn't have room to rest forward, the airway gets restricted — especially lying down.
Chronic headaches
Tension headaches, especially in the temples or behind the eyes, can be related to jaw position, clenching, and poor-quality sleep — all of which connect back to how the jaws fit together.
Lived with these symptoms for years? Your free evaluation looks at the structure behind them.
Book Your Free ConsultationWhy these problems are connected — and why they don't go away on their own.
In a child, the upper jaw is still growing — and if something is restricting the airway, we can redirect that growth while it's happening. In an adult, that window has closed. If the upper jaw didn't develop to its full width, the consequences are permanent unless something changes the structure itself.
A narrow upper jaw means less room for the tongue on the palate, a narrower nasal floor above, and often a lower jaw that sits further back than it should. That's why mouth breathing, crowding, TMJ problems, a crossbite, and snoring often show up together in the same person — different expressions of the same structural issue.
This is what a nightguard doesn't address. It manages the symptom, but it doesn't change the jaw causing the problem. When Dr. Liatti evaluates an adult, he looks at the 3D scan of the jaws, airway, and joints together — what the comprehensive evaluation is built to find.
Non-surgical jaw expansion for adults.
For decades, the only way to widen an adult's upper jaw was surgery. The growth seam in the roof of the mouth — open and flexible in children — becomes increasingly interlocked with age, and a traditional expander can't open it without damaging the teeth. So the answer was surgically assisted expansion: a hospital, general anesthesia, and a recovery period.
About a decade ago, that changed. MARPE — miniscrew-assisted rapid palatal expansion — made it possible to expand the adult upper jaw without surgery.1 Small temporary anchors placed in the palatal bone deliver the expansion force to the bone itself, bypassing the teeth — true skeletal expansion, not just tipping the teeth outward,2 in patients whose growth window closed years ago.
Widening the upper jaw has the same downstream effects in adults as in children: a wider nasal floor, improved nasal breathing, more room for the tongue, and a better foundation for the lower jaw.3 A wider arch also means a broader, more attractive smile. Dr. Liatti performs the entire MARPE procedure himself — anchor placement and expansion appliance — in his office, in a single visit. You can read more about how MARPE works.
MARPE versus surgical expansion.
MARPE changed the math for many adults: miniscrews anchor the expander directly to the palatal bone, so the jaw can be widened in the office instead of the operating room. Surgery still has a role for some anatomy, and Dr. Liatti will tell you honestly when that's the right call.
SARPE
MARPE
Many MARPE candidates are adults who would have benefited from a palatal expander as children but never had one — and Dr. Liatti understands this firsthand, having needed jaw surgery himself as a young adult.
Wondering whether you're a candidate for non-surgical expansion? A free 3D scan is the only way to know.
Book Your Free ConsultationWhat our patients say.
I recently finished my orthodontic treatment at Encinitas Orthodontics. I had an underbite but now it’s perfect. Dr. Liatti’s treatment method to move my teeth considered my overall health instead of just how the teeth looks, unlike other orthodontists who…
We love Dr. Liatti and his amazing staff! Our older son was treated for airway restriction/sleep apnea, and our younger son for a crossbite that would have permanently damaged his adult teeth.
We consulted with multiple orthodontists before and after meeting Dr. Liatti. We live quite far (1 hour drive) but it was 100% the right decision. Each of our children have received personalized care and treatment plans.
Dr. Liatti and his staff came in and saved me from a previously horrible Invisalign experience. Within two weeks, I had a new treatment plan (done the correct way with the latest technologies from a board certified orthodontist) and a new caring, funny…
I just finished my journey with braces through Encinitas Orthodontics/Dr. Liatti. He and his team are friendly and very knowledgeable.
I saw Dr. Liatti at Encinitas Orthodontics for a new retainer and was extremely impressed. As a speech and language pathologist, I appreciated Dr. Liatti’s thorough examination and was impressed with his wealth of knowledge.
Serving North County San Diego & beyond.
Encinitas Orthodontics is located at 317 N El Camino Real, Suite 203, in Encinitas, CA — serving families from across North County San Diego and the greater San Diego area who are looking for adult airway orthodontics and MARPE expansion.
Patients visit from Encinitas, Carlsbad, Del Mar, Solana Beach, Rancho Santa Fe, San Marcos, and Oceanside.