Category: Blog posts

Disordered breathing is typically most pronounced during sleep, often making cases of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) go unnoticed and undiagnosed. Sleep-related breathing disorders are conditions of abnormal or difficult respiration during sleep. There are several types of sleep-related breathing disorders, ranging in severity.

An extremely common early warning sign of sleep apnea or sleep-related disordered breathing is snoring. While snoring is common, it is not normal. The person doing the snoring is typically unaware of the occurrence, it can keep your partner awake, and can also represent a more serious health risk.

Some Other Common Symptoms of Sleep-Related Disordered Breathing Are:

• Bruxism (clenching and grinding)
• Mouth Breathing
• Unusual Wear on the Biting Surfaces of Teeth
• Unexplained Broken Crowns or Fractured Teeth
• Headaches
• Stress
• Brain Fog
• Forward Head Posture
• Chronic Fatigue
• Face, Neck, Shoulder, or Joint Pain
• Waking Up at Night Gasping for Air
• Dry Mouth/Lips Upon Waking Up
• Difficulty Concentrating

When left untreated, disordered breathing can cause or aggravate a long list of potential symptoms and more serious health conditions. Disordered breathing often worsens over time and can become life-threatening when left untreated.

Common Health Issues Associated with Disordered Breathing Are:

• Anxiety
• Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADD or ADHD)
• Memory Problems
• Depression
• Gum Disease
• Upper Respiratory Infections
• Chronic Sinus Infections
• Obesity
• Diabetes
• Hypertension
• Hyperthyroidism
• Chronic Pain
• Cardiovascular Disease

Dentists play an essential role in the care of patients with sleep related breathing disorders and are well positioned to identify patients who are at greater risk. Airway-focused dentists address the root cause of disordered breathing and provide solutions to treat the disorder at the source.

We can all agree that air is pretty important. Without it, we literally cannot survive. Well, how we take in that air is nearly as important as the air itself. How you breathe can affect teeth position, speech, sleep quality, energy levels, and even facial development.

If you breathe through your mouth during the day, it is likely that you breathe through your mouth through the night. Mouth breathing during sleep is often connected with sleep apnea and affected levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the bloodstream. Less oxygen getting to your brain can cause attention/focus problems, chronic fatigue, tiredness, and brain fog. When air is inhaled through the nose, it passes through the nasal mucosa, stimulating nerves that help us achieve deep sleep. Because mouth breathing bypasses the nasal mucosa, it can cause breathing difficulty, snoring, and sleep apnea.

Deep sleep is the time that Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is released. HGH is essential to growth and development. A mouth breather may have identifying facial features, such as a long and narrow face with a less prominent jaw and retracted chin. The open mouth posture drops the chin down and back, with a downward pull of facial muscles and joints.

Children who breathe through their mouths are more likely to struggle with speech. A lisp or struggle with the letter “s” are common struggles for mouth breathers. Open mouth breathers often have a tongue thrust swallowing pattern, causing the tongue to thrust forward during talking and swallowing. Look for tongue tie or flared out teeth.

With all the breathing, development, and parafunctional habits like tongue thrusting, it is common that teeth stability and alignment will be compromised. Often, a traditional dentist will recommend braces to correct teeth. The problem here is that braces do not help treat the underlying cause, so patients continue to mouth breathe after orthodontic treatment, leading to relapse. Finding an airway dentist who is trained to treat more than “just teeth” is necessary.

Calcium build up, calculus, or tartar, occurs when the every day bacterial film on teeth picks up calcium and other mineral elements from saliva and food. The combination hardens on the tooth surface and needs to be removed by a dental hygienist, as it cannot be removed by regular brushing and flossing. While regular brushing and flossing helps to keep teeth smooth and clean, making it difficult for bacteria and calcium to attach, perhaps there is something more to the story…

Vitamin K2 activates osteocalcin and matrix-Gla protein, which helps distribute calcium in the body. Because of the way matrix-Gla (MGP) protein binds to calcium ions, it is a key factor in the prevention of calcification. This makes vitamin K2 critical to heart health, but also to dental health. By decreasing calcium in the bloodstream and saliva, K2 may be the secret to minimizing dental calculus.

If you practice excellent oral hygiene at home but still experience persistent tartar buildup on teeth, it might be a good idea to have your Vitamin K2 levels checked.

Think of remineralization as the tooth repair process. Your body works to repair and re-harden tooth enamel that has been damaged due to aging, diet, and lifestyle habits like acidic foods and dry mouth from mouth breathing. For years dentists have recommended fluoride treatments and products to assist the body in this process. As concern has grown regarding the toxicity and possible side effects of fluoride products, a safer and equally effective solution has emerged…

HYDROXYAPATITE (HAp)

The beauty of Hydroxyapatite is that it is a naturally occurring mineral that helps to make up bones and teeth, making it biocompatible. So, by using a toothpaste containing hydroxyapatite, you are able to replace minerals in teeth – aka remineralize. Your teeth absorb the hydroxyapatite and use it to rebuild.

In addition to remineralizing, hydroxyapatite actually helps to protect teeth against demineralization and cavities. Hydroxyapatite can fill in tiny cracks and fissures in the enamel, creating a smoother and stronger outer-tooth surface, making it difficult for bacteria to attach.

Basically, hydroxyapatite provides all the benefits of fluoride, with zero known side effects. If you are still using fluoride toothpaste, it might be a good time to try out hydroxyapatite and see what works best for you.

It’s a no-brainer that gut health is important. The gastrointestinal system is the body’s way of taking in and distributing the nutrients it needs for survival. This “nutrient highway” consists of important organs like the pancreas, liver, gallbladder, and intestines. But, notice that this picture of the digestive tract starts at the mouth. That’s because digestion begins in your mouth! Because of this close connection between gut and mouth, your oral health can impact your gut health, and vice versa.

Besides providing the body with the nutrients and water it needs, your digestive system is the communication center for the brain, and the body’s core disease-fighting system. This means that gut health is quite essential to overall health, and oral health is the gateway to it all.

Due to complexity and the central location in the body, disease in the digestive tract can be very difficult to detect and diagnose. The link between mouth and body can be a key factor in early diagnosis of chronic digestive disease.

Gingivitis or bleeding gums is often the first sign of oral inflammation. But these symptoms can also be an early indicator of an issue further down the digestive tract. When the immune system is inflamed, it overreacts. If you are looking to improve your gut health, it is important to look first in the mouth.