Mouth Breathing

Our bodies are meant to breathe solely through our nose. However, it is completely natural to breathe through our mouths at certain times such as when doing something strenuous. Mouth breathing is typically done out of necessity when the nose can’t get enough air due to various reasons. It can become a life-long habit and affect health negatively if it is not corrected.

Breathing through the mouth most of the time can cause the following problems:

• Activation of the Sympathetic Nervous System (flight or flight mode) during sleep. It is a stressed response caused by hyperventilation

• Dry mouth which affects dental health (cavities and gum inflammation)

• Breathing in unfiltered/unpurified air

• Enlarged tonsils and adenoids

• Low tongue posture — when the mouth is open, the tongue does not rest up on the roof of the mouth and can cause the following:

  • Narrow palate

  • Crowded teeth

  • Long and narrow facial growth

  • Tongue thrust swallowing pattern

How orofacial myofunctional therapy can help

Therapy involves strengthening and gaining control of the lips. It brings awareness to individuals who don’t even realize that they are mouth breathing. If your lips are just 1 mm open, that is enough to be considered mouth breathing! If you wake up in the morning with a dry mouth then you are mouth breathing and if you’re mouth breathing at night you are likely to be mouth breathing during the day and not realize it.