Nose breathing is a natural human respiratory process, breathing through the nose helps warm and filter the air before it reaches the lungs. But in many cases we have to breathe through the mouth all day or when sleeping. So is it okay to breathe through the mouth?
Consequences of prolonged mouth breathing
For some reason, the nasal ventilation process is obstructed, the body will adapt by breathing through the mouth. Long-term mouth breathing will lead to fundamental changes in the face such as: the upper lip is pulled up high and the lower jaw is kept open, the tongue is normally placed on the palate and must be lowered to the floor of the mouth and pushed forward to allow a large amount of air to pass through. Therefore, this is the reason why many people who breathe through
the mouth have abnormal swallowing movements.
Abnormal contraction of the muscles related to the tongue and facial bones when breathing through the mouth also leads to gradual reshaping of these bones, causing long-term deformities in the dental system.
In addition, when breathing through the mouth, the amount of oxygen absorbed into the lungs is much less than when breathing through the nose; our body will always be in a state of oxygen deficiency, so breathing is difficult, the head often tends to tilt to the side or back; children will open their mouths wide as if they are “gasping for air”, this position will overload the muscles in the neck and upper back. If mouth breathing is prolonged, it will lead to permanent spinal deformities (abnormal curvature of the cervical and thoracic spine) and changes in shoulder position.
Finally, the domino effect occurs in the hips, knees and feet; this is a consequence of the change in shape of the cervical and thoracic spine. Initially, mouth breathing is due to obstruction of the upper respiratory tract, but long-term mouth breathing will further narrow the upper respiratory tract and increase the size of the tonsils or adenoids; at some point, nasal breathing will no longer be possible.
In addition, the growth rate of facial bones is fastest in the first years of life; 4-year-old children have facial bones that reach 60% of their adult size, and by the time they are 12, 90% of facial bone growth has been completed. Therefore, the earlier the changes caused by mouth breathing on these bones occur, the more severe the changes in the entire musculoskeletal system will be.
Breathing through the mouth takes in less oxygen and more carbon dioxide, so it will affect the body’s functions. In particular, mouth breathing causes snoring, drooling, and is prone to chronic hypoxia and sleep apnea.
Prolonged mouth breathing causes chest deformities, “pigeon chest” chest, cervical spine deformities, thoracic spine deformities, lowered esophagus, changes in blood gas levels, hoarse voice, nasal speech, insomnia. Children with chronic hypoxia have pale skin, slow physical development, lethargy, and quick exhaustion during exercise.
In the maxillofacial area, the most obvious consequences of breathing through the mouth are:
Causing negative effects on the alignment of teeth. Children are very fond of mouth breathing; This will cause crooked teeth, misaligned bites, lip shape and tongue position changes, making jaw alignment very complicated, especially when using braces.
When to breathe through the mouth, you may notice that your mouth feels dry. This feeling can cause discomfort and lead to many other oral health problems such as: bad breath, tooth decay because the lack of saliva to wash away bacteria from the teeth can cause plaque to accumulate quickly, destroy tooth structure, gingivitis…
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