Category: Blog posts

What might seem like a harmless or even cute habit, is anything but. How we breathe can impact tooth and jaw structures, speech, sleep quality, mood, and even facial development.

Let’s take a deeper look:

• An open mouth posture does not allow the tongue to rest in the upper palate, leading to further underdevelopment of the upper jaw. This can lead to physical abnormalities like narrow mouth, gummy smile, crooked and crowded teeth, & poor posture.
• When the tongue rests in the lower jaw, it stimulates vertical growth. This creates a longer “horsey” face and affects development of the mid-face region.
• Mouth breathing stimulates the upper lungs, triggering the sympathetic nerve receptors, and sending the body into a constant state of “fight-or-flight.”
• A constant state of stress prevents the body from entering deep sleep, affecting the quality of sleep achieved. Poor sleep quality can affect attention, focus, and productivity at work and school.
• Mouth breathing bypasses the nasal mucosa, making regular breathing difficult. This often leads to snoring, irregular breath, and sleep apnea.
• Breathing through the mouth causes imbalance in the amounts of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the bloodstream. Less oxygen reaching the brain affects the ability to focus, and can cause fatigue, chronic tiredness, and brain fog.
• Open mouth posture can create speech difficulty and the ability to produce certain sounds.
• Mouth breathing does not filter out foreign particles in the air, and often causes dry mouth, bad breath, and cavities.

Besides helping you to taste, speak, swallow, and chew, your tongue also has a huge impact on the shape of your face. Oral resting posture refers to what your tongue is doing when you are not speaking, eating, or drinking.

When at rest, oral position should be as follows:

• Lips together
• Teeth slightly parted
• Tongue at the roof of the mouth, but not pressing against the teeth

The tongue pressed against the roof of the mouth plays a huge role in development. The gentle pressure of the tongue helps to shape the upper palate and surrounding oral and facial structures. Proper tongue resting posture also promotes nasal breathing.

When a tongue rests in the lower jaw, the midface does not grow properly and the lower face narrows and elongates. Other facial defects associated with Improper tongue resting posture are:

• High and narrow palate
• Flattened face
• Recessed chin/jaw
• Sunken cheeks
• Small jaws

The tongue is the strongest muscle in the head and can exert up to 500g of force. For reference, it only takes 1.7g of force to move a single tooth. This force is the major shaper of the palate, jaws, and facial structure. Improper tongue resting posture often results in narrow arches without room for all teeth. The lower jaw is forced back down, affecting the way the face grows.

Take a moment today to evaluate your tongue resting position!

Gum disease starts with bacteria and plaque build up on your teeth, which extends into your gums. Though the mouth bacteria of a person with diabetes may be the same as someone without diabetes, a person with diabetes has a greater inflammatory response to the bacteria. Additionally, gum disease can make it increasingly difficult for a diabetic to control blood sugars. Diabetes causes a change to blood vessels, affecting the flow of nutrients. It also affects how waste is removed from body tissues, weakening gums and bones, and making the body more susceptible to infection. Poor blood sugar control makes it harder for your immune system to fight infection.

Some signs that may indicate gum disease are:

• Red, swollen or bleeding gums.
• Loose or sensitive teeth.
• Bad breath.
• Receding gums.

Taking steps to avoid or improve gum disease can help maintain blood glucose levels. Brush and floss daily, including the tongue, which can harbor plaque-causing bacteria. Avoid acidic and sugary drinks- water is your friend! And make sure to visit your dentist regularly to monitor changes in gum health, and help catch any issues before they worsen. Your dentist is a big part of your diabetes management team!

When there is less volume in the airways, pressure goes up. This increase in airway pressure is the definition of Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome (UARS). Though the increase in pressure is an issue in itself, it is merely a response to the decrease in volume. Narrowing in the airways increases the effort needed to breathe. Compare this narrowing to breathing through a straw – doesn’t sound fun at all.

As it gets harder to breathe, your body goes into overdrive trying to maintain oxygen levels. The additional effort to breathe puts a strain on other systems of the body, making it increasingly difficult to achieve quality sleep. During sleep, your body should fall into a restful state of healing. This is the time where your body recovers from everything it’s done that day. This healing process requires a constant supply of oxygen to the brain.

The best source of oxygen is through nasal breathing. During nasal breathing, the sinuses release nitric oxide which mixes with oxygen, increasing blood flow to the lungs and lowering blood pressure by dilating blood vessels.

Because the upper palate is the same bone that houses the nasal sinuses, a small jaw and/or high, narrow palate can be a huge sign of narrow or cramped nasal passages. Teeth Crowding/crooked teeth can be an easily identified sign of a small jaw, indicating lack of space to fit all the teeth. Small jaws indicate small airways, meaning lack of oxygen, difficulty breathing, and oftentimes sleep breathing disorders like UARS.

Often, clenching and grinding happens during sleep, leaving some people unaware that it’s happening at all. This can lead to mornings filled with headaches and jaw pain – often blamed on stress.

What many people don’t know is that clenching and grinding during sleep can be related to an airway and/or sleep disorder. During sleep, the muscles relax, and the tongue moves into the back of the mouth. When there is an already small airway structure, the tongue can block some or all of the airway. Airway blockage causes the body to wake itself up, or compensate.

The compensation is often clenching and/or grinding. The motion of clenching forces the jaw forward, opening the airway, and allowing the body to breathe again. Though the clenching and grinding may help you to breathe better at night, it can be extremely damaging and painful to teeth and jaws.

Here are a few symptoms that may indicate clenching and grinding during sleep:

• Chipped or broken teeth
• Tooth sensitivity
• Toothaches
• Headaches
• Migraines
• Jaw pain or temporomandibular joint disorders (TMJ)

If you are experiencing one or more of these symptoms, it is best to schedule a consultation with an airway-focused dentist to discuss your treatment options.