Little Bird Pediatric Dentistry

Little Bird Pediatric Dentistry Having learned and collaborated with pediatric health care experts from around the world, a new comprehensive airway centric assessment and approach was born.

Dr. Alison Sigal
Certified Specialist in Pediatric Dentistry
B.H.Kin, DDS, MSc (Ped Dent), FRCDC
Founder, Little Bird Pediatric Dentistry

Making airway-centric health care a global standard—shaping textbooks, curriculums, and future health-care models. Little Bird Pediatric Dentistry represents Dr. Alison Sigal’s vision of pediatric health care, creating an Airway Centric clinic that focuses on o

ptimizing the growth, development and function of all children from birth on-wards. This vision of Little Bird grew from…

- A love for children and healthcare,
- A foundation in anatomy, physiology, and function,
- And a passion for research and global multi-disciplinary collaboration

Dr. Alison Sigal is a pediatric dentist with additional training that includes orofacial myofunctional therapy (OMT) and Buteyko breathing. We have a four-fold mission at Little Bird:

1. To optimize the growth, development and function of all children we care for from birth onwards, that is airway focused and comprehensive. For optimized growth, development and function, it is critical that we are breathing from our noses, having our lips sealed (closed) at rest, and with correct tongue rest posture (up against the roof of our mouths, behind the upper front teeth). Our philosophy of care at Little Bird is for optimization and prevention, to therefore avoid or minimize treatment and correction at a later, older age. This is why we work collaboratively with various health care providers and see babies within their first months of life - ensuring optimized tongue and lip rest posture, nose breathing, sleeping and feeding. Beyond babies, ALL new patients at Little Bird receive comprehensive airway centric examinations that include but are not limited to the evaluation of their breathing, sleeping, diet/chewing /swallowing and teeth. No matter how old your child is, identification and treatment can be beneficial. Dependent on the specific needs for each patient, our services at Little Bird may include (but are not limited to) Buteyko breathing re-education, orofacial myofunctional therapy (OMT - exercises for the muscles of your head, neck, & airway), tongue and/or lip tie releases (frenotomies) and more.

2. Provide a community-based family first center where care can be personalized to the unique needs of each individual. Little Bird has Snoezelen/Sensory integrated features throughout the entire office. At Little Bird, we aspire to meet the needs of each of our patients through our various spaces and design. From a natural waterfall feature, to live trees, calming rooms, rebounding therapy and a classroom space for our many airway centric programs!

3. To practice and contribute to evidence based health care; having created a secure electronic charting system, this will allow for on-going research to be conducted at LB, and used to assess and continually improve patient care.

4. To continually collaborate and learn from multi-disciplinary health care providers, and evolve our practices to best meet the needs of our patients. Please visit our website at www.littlebirddental.ca for further details and to use our Airway Centric Self-Assessment Checklists to evaluate your loved ones from home! We look forward to taking care of you,

Sincerely,

Dr. Alison Sigal

“Spread Love. Spread Kindness. Spread Your Wings!”

09/08/2026

Back to school!! Sending so much love to all the kids starting their first days this week! Also to their families and parents - another season begins!
So proud of Evie and Sim - was a hearts full beautiful day back! Thankful to their amazing teachers that also helped start their school years with magic!
“Spread love. Spread Kindness. Spread your wings!”

Back to school!! Sending so much love to all the kids starting their first days this week! Also to their families and pa...
09/08/2026

Back to school!! Sending so much love to all the kids starting their first days this week! Also to their families and parents - another season begins!
So proud of Evie and Sim - was a hearts full beautiful day back! Thankful to their amazing teachers that also helped start their school years with magic!
“Spread love. Spread Kindness. Spread your wings!”

What are the Functions of the Tongue? Optimal infant anatomy begins with the tongue—the captain of cranio-facial-respira...
09/08/2026

What are the Functions of the Tongue?

Optimal infant anatomy begins with the tongue—the captain of cranio-facial-respiratory growth and development. It also plays essential roles in airway protection, chewing, swallowing, speech, and oral hygiene.

Yet the tongue has been largely sidelined in healthcare, partly because of its complex anatomy.

Think of the tongue in thirds: blade, body, and base. Unlike most muscles, the tongue is a muscular hydrostat—with no bones, functioning like an elephant’s trunk or octopus te****le. It can generate suction and pressure, allowing the full tongue to naturally rest against the palate.

However, most anatomical illustrations show the tongue resting on the floor of the mouth, largely based on cadaver anatomy. In living people, a wet oral environment enables this natural suction.

My clinical work and data from over 3,700 patients support this functional model, recently accepted for publication in the IJOM.

This brings us to the first essential key: At rest, the full tongue should be passively suctioned against the palate.

📄 Read my open-access paper, Changes in Tongue Resting Posture Following Pediatric Lingual Frenotomy: Evidence for the Tongue as a Muscular Hydrostat: https://www.mdpi.com/3915252

09/03/2026

How we breathe matters.

Habitual mouth breathing is not simply an open-mouth habit. It can influence sleep quality, oral health, craniofacial growth, nervous-system regulation, attention, behaviour, and overall health.

Nasal breathing, by contrast, helps filter, warm, and humidify the air we breathe, while supporting healthier airway function, sleep, tongue posture, and development.

In this conversation with Dr. Derek Mahony, we explore why breathing should be at the forefront of every child’s health assessment—and why recognizing mouth breathing early can create an opportunity to change a child’s trajectory.

The full podcast is now live, and I am so excited to share this rich conversation about airway-centric health care, tongue function, sleep, growth, and whole-person wellness.

🎙️ Watch or listen to the full podcast:
YouTube: https://youtu.be/tmgnZ3BKI0c
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3quy61AZcP6kIqkjvo0I5k?si=ke_fjp_MSXmwBcbYjC-HOg
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/tongue-ties-with-dr-alison-sigal/id1584591504?i=1000780137439

📄 Read my open-access paper, Changes in Tongue Resting Posture Following Pediatric Lingual Frenotomy: Evidence for the Tongue as a Muscular Hydrostat: https://www.mdpi.com/3915252

The mouth has many important functions—but breathing is intended to occur through the nose. ❤️

09/01/2026

Before labelling a child’s behaviour, look at how they breathe and sleep. 

Teachers often see the signs before anyone else does.

The child who struggles to focus.
The child who seems exhausted despite going to bed on time.
The child who is restless, dysregulated, falling behind, or constantly breathing through an open mouth.

These children do not always need more discipline, more effort, or another label.

Sometimes, they need someone to look at how they are breathing and sleeping.

In this podcast conversation with Dr. Derek Mahony, we discuss why habitual mouth breathing, poor-quality sleep, airway restriction, tongue function, and craniofacial development must become part of how we assess children who are struggling.

Teachers are in such a powerful position to notice patterns and help families ask different questions.

The full conversation is now live, and it captures so much of the heart, data, clinical care, and discoveries behind the airway-centric work we have been building at Little Bird.

🎙️ Watch or listen to the full podcast:
YouTube: https://youtu.be/tmgnZ3BKI0c
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3quy61AZcP6kIqkjvo0I5k?si=ke_fjp_MSXmwBcbYjC-HOg
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/tongue-ties-with-dr-alison-sigal/id1584591504?i=1000780137439

📄 Read my open-access research paper, Changes in Tongue Resting Posture Following Pediatric Lingual Frenotomy: Evidence for the Tongue as a Muscular Hydrostat: https://www.mdpi.com/3915252

The goal is not simply to help children cope better.

It is to understand why they are struggling—and help them breathe, sleep, grow, and thrive. ❤️

08/31/2026

A Call to Action! 🔊

Empower yourself and others.

Watch, share and help bring change together.

🎙️ Watch or listen to the full podcast:
YouTube: https://youtu.be/tmgnZ3BKI0c
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3quy61AZcP6kIqkjvo0I5k?si=ke_fjp_MSXmwBcbYjC-HOg
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/tongue-ties-with-dr-alison-sigal/id1584591504?i=1000780137439

📄 Read my open-access paper, Changes in Tongue Resting Posture Following Pediatric Lingual Frenotomy: Evidence for the Tongue as a Muscular Hydrostat: https://www.mdpi.com/3915252

We’re teaming up again as our Sigal 6 Crew to support Milton Terry Fox Run! Join us in making a difference. Every donati...
08/21/2026

We’re teaming up again as our Sigal 6 Crew to support Milton Terry Fox Run! Join us in making a difference. Every donation to our team helps.

Terry is the definition of grit, courage, and heart. Literally one step in front of the other, following his heart and dream of a better future. Thankful to be able to run in his honour, and many of our other angels, survivors, and current warriors.

Click here: https://run.terryfox.ca/team/sigal-6

Thank you so much!
Ali Sigal

Andy Grammer - You are everything. The definition of kindness, heart, talent, and the most soulful music!! Your albums h...
08/17/2026

Andy Grammer - You are everything. The definition of kindness, heart, talent, and the most soulful music!! Your albums have been there through my personal and professional life. Giving me the courage and inspiration to never stop believing in the power of love. To dream big, and chase those dreams. I dream of a future where every baby born is assessed for a tongue tie and released completely, properly. Allowing their breathing, sleeping, feeding, growth and development to be optimized. After caring for over 4000 patients, and seeing firsthand, their lives change following complete release, regardless of the age- baby, child, adult. It ought to be standard of care, and I will continue to strive to make that happen! Thank you for being the soundtrack to this journey. Hopeful our paths may cross again - would love to collaborate and connect!!
With utmost gratitude.
Ali (Dr. S)

08/13/2026

Hyperactivity may be a sign of exhaustion—not excess energy.

When children are habitually mouth breathing and not achieving restorative sleep, their bodies may remain in a heightened sympathetic state—working harder to breathe, struggling to regulate, and never fully settling into the quality of sleep they need.

And unlike many adults, an overtired child may not simply appear sleepy.

They may become more active.
More impulsive.
More emotional.
More dysregulated.

That paradoxical response is one of the reasons airway and sleep must be considered when a child is struggling with attention, behaviour, learning, or emotional regulation.

In this conversation with Dr. Derek Mahony, we explore the connections between mouth breathing, sleep quality, tongue function, airway health, growth, and whole-child development.

🎙️ Watch or listen to the full podcast:
YouTube: https://youtu.be/tmgnZ3BKI0c
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3quy61AZcP6kIqkjvo0I5k?si=ke_fjp_MSXmwBcbYjC-HOg
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/tongue-ties-with-dr-alison-sigal/id1584591504?i=1000780137439

📄 Read my open-access paper, Changes in Tongue Resting Posture Following Pediatric Lingual Frenotomy: Evidence for the Tongue as a Muscular Hydrostat: https://www.mdpi.com/3915252

Before assuming a child simply needs to try harder or behave differently, we need to ask:

How are they breathing—and how well are they truly sleeping? ❤️

08/10/2026

Breaking Free From Tongue Tie - Real Lives, Real Change

Hear their stories.
See how their lives changed.
Watch the full testimonials on YouTube.

The need for the assessment and treatment of tongue ties to become common knowledge and standard of care is right now.

https://youtu.be/5oRrlDBLG4Q?si=vu6Lmq_kIIBxYstR

Address

345 Steeles Avenue E, Unit 200
Milton, ON
L9T3G6

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Thursday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Friday 8:30am - 4:30pm

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