Airway and TMJ orthodontics in Anthem, Arizona.
An airway assessment and a TMJ evaluation are part of every free consult here. Dr. Nicholas Romans will tell you what he sees, treat what is genuinely orthodontic, and send you to a physician for the rest.
- Board-certified orthodontist
- Craniofacial fellowship trained
- Airway and TMJ check included
Free, and no obligation. Some questions need your physician, and we will say so out loud.
A jaw that clicks. A child who snores. A bite that never felt right.
These are the things people bring to an orthodontist, and they are worth bringing. An exam can look at how your teeth meet, how the jaw joints move, how wide the upper arch is, how the airway looks on imaging, and whether the teeth show the wear that comes with clenching.
Here is the part a lot of websites leave out. None of that is a diagnosis of sleep apnea, and no orthodontist can give you one. Sleep-disordered breathing is diagnosed by a physician, usually with a sleep study. Orthodontic treatment is not a cure for sleep apnea, and it does not treat ADHD, bedwetting, or anything else you may have read in a forum. What an orthodontist can honestly do is examine, describe what is there, treat the part that is orthodontic, and refer the rest.
Airway and TMJ care that stays inside what orthodontics can do.
- Airway assessment and TMJ evaluation in every free consult, for kids and adults, whether or not you came in asking about them
- Expansion when a narrow upper arch is the actual finding, which is usually most useful while a child is still growing
- Sleep appliances and mandibular advancement appliances, provided as part of care your physician is directing, after their diagnosis
- TMJ appliances for jaw joint and clenching symptoms, with what an appliance can and cannot change explained first
- Complex bite correction, planned, adjusted and finished by the same orthodontist
Sometimes the right answer is a referral, and you will hear it.
You start with a free consult. Dr. Romans looks at the bite and the jaw joints, takes digital scans and imaging, asks what you have noticed and for how long, then tells you what he sees in plain words.
If the finding is orthodontic, he will explain the options and what each one is meant to change. If it points somewhere else, he will say that instead, and point you to your physician, an ENT, or a sleep specialist. Nobody here needs you to buy an appliance to find out whether you needed one. He is the only orthodontist in the practice and he owns it, so the person who examines you is the person who treats you.
Dr. Nicholas Romans, DMD, MSD.
Airway and jaw questions are not a sideline he picked up. They are close to what he trained on.
He spent a fellowship year on a hospital craniofacial team caring for children with cleft lip and palate, where how the face and jaws grow is the whole subject. In his own words: "More than 7 years dedicated to orthodontics, including advanced specialty training." He built this practice himself, which is why one orthodontist plans, checks and finishes every case.
- Board certified by the American Board of Orthodontics, a voluntary examination of his own clinical cases
- MSD and orthodontic specialty training, Saint Louis University
- Craniofacial fellowship, St. Louis Children's Hospital, with the Washington University team
- DMD from A.T. Still University, with a public health certificate earned alongside it
- Speaks English and Polish
Ask us about an airway or TMJ concern.
Leave a name and a number and the office will call you back to book your free consult. Please do not describe symptoms in the form. We keep health details out of it on purpose, and we will cover all of that on the call.
[CONFIRM: the call-back window the front desk can actually commit to, for example same business day]
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Text or call(623) 320-1222Request your free consult
Airway and TMJ questions, answered carefully.
Where the honest answer is "a physician decides that," you will find it written that way.
How much does airway or TMJ treatment cost in Anthem?
It depends on what the examination actually finds, so the visit that answers it is free. Your consult ends with one exact written price for your case, covering treatment and retainers, and it is yours to keep whether or not you start.
Major PPO dental plans are accepted and verified during the consult, and FSA and HSA funds are welcome. Orthodontic benefits work against a lifetime orthodontic maximum, which is not the same thing as an annual dental maximum, and adult coverage varies by plan. See how insurance and financing work.
Can braces or an expander cure sleep apnea?
No. Sleep apnea is a medical diagnosis, made by a physician and usually confirmed with a sleep study, and orthodontic treatment is not a cure for it.
What orthodontics can address is structural: a narrow upper arch, crowding, or a jaw position. Some patients are also fitted with an oral appliance as one part of a plan their physician is directing. Dr. Romans will not tell you that you have sleep apnea, and he will not tell you that braces will fix it.
My child snores. Should I bring them in?
Bring them in, and tell their pediatrician too. Both conversations matter, and only the physician's side of it can lead to a diagnosis.
An orthodontic exam can tell you whether the upper arch is narrow, whether there is enough room for the teeth coming in, and how the bite is developing. That is useful information, and it is not a diagnosis. If what he sees points toward tonsils, adenoids or allergies, Dr. Romans will say so and refer. Read how early treatment works.
Will a TMJ appliance stop my jaw pain?
We cannot promise that, and it is worth being careful with anyone who does. Jaw joint pain has more than one possible source, and not all of them are orthodontic.
An appliance is one tool. It can change how the teeth come together and how much work the jaw muscles are asked to do. Some people notice a difference, and some do not. Dr. Romans will tell you what he thinks an appliance can and cannot change before you commit to one, and he will refer you on if the picture looks like something other than a bite problem.
Do I need a sleep study before you can make me a sleep appliance?
Yes, that is the correct order. The diagnosis comes from a physician, and a sleep appliance or mandibular advancement appliance is provided as part of the care they are directing.
If you have not had a sleep study, the consult is still worth having. An exam and imaging tell you what is going on structurally, and Dr. Romans can help you get in front of the right physician for the rest.
Is the airway and TMJ check extra, or part of a normal consult?
It is part of every consult, for every patient, at no charge. Nobody has to ask for it.
The free consult includes a tour, digital scans and imaging instead of impressions, an exam by Dr. Romans, a bite and jaw alignment assessment, a growth and development evaluation, an airway assessment, a TMJ evaluation, and a written treatment plan with your exact price.
Bring the question. Get a straight answer.
A free consult in Anthem with the orthodontist who would treat you, including an airway assessment and a TMJ evaluation, and a referral if that is what you actually need.
Book your free consult