Have you ever watched your child
sleep and see them breathing through his or her mouth? Mouth breathing or breathing
through the mouth instead of the nose may lead to trouble for youngsters. Kids
who typically breathe through their mouth—most often are children who suffer
from allergies—experience problems getting enough oxygen into their blood, a
condition that affects their weight, size, sleep, and even their performance in
the classroom and daily life.
Mouth breathing is a condition that
can lead to sleep apnea, behavior and learning problems, delayed speech, dental
and facial abnormalities, and even breathing problems as your child grows.
There are a multitude of reasons for an individual to mouth breathe, such as enlarged
tonsils, adenoids, and deviated nasal septum, but the cause is usually
allergies.
What are the symptoms of mouth breathing?
The tongue plays a large role in influencing cranial and
maxillary growth. A newborn child’s forward thrusting of the tongue to express
milk from the mother’s breast is the force that drives the horizontal or
forward growth of upper jaw. The tongue acts like a natural tooth retainer when
the mouth is closed gently pushing the top teeth into their correct position.
When the mouth is open, the tongue rests on the floor of the mouth instead of
roof. When this is done continuously the upper jaw narrows forcing the teeth to
grow in a forward position or to overlap each other.
·
Breathing primarily with mouth open and breathing will often
sound shallow and raspy.
·
Mouth breathers tend to grow at a slower rate than other
children
·
Chapped or dry lips
·
Swollen tonsils
·
Children who mouth breathe typically do not sleep well, causing
them to be tired during the day and possibly unable to concentrate on studies
·
Dark circles under the eyes
·
Gingivitis
·
Narrow palate, and crowed teeth
·
Increasingly long and narrow faces termed as long face syndrome
or adenoid faces
·
Gum tissue shows when smiling
·
Snoring or sleep apnea
·
High incidence of airway infections
·
Mouth breathing dries out saliva which plays important role in
cavity prevention so the incidence of dental caries increases.
·
Increased rate of plaque accumulation
As bad as the
mouth breathing condition sounds, we want you to know mouth breathing is a
treatable condition. Doing so requires early diagnosis and treatment. Since our
team at Alina Bergan DDS
sees our patients every six months, we may be in a position to identify the
symptoms of mouth breathing.
