Mouth Breathing
It is perfectly natural to breathe through your mouth at times, as the mouth serves as an emergency backup system when the nose cannot provide enough airflow. However, relying on mouth breathing as the primary source of breathing can cause health problems, especially in children, because it can affect the long-term development of the face and cranio-facial structure. Our bodies are primarily designed to breathe through the nose, which acts as a natural humidifier and filter for the air we inhale. Ideal breathing involves inhaling and exhaling only through the nose, and when the mouth takes over regularly, it can lead to a variety of functional and developmental issues.
Craniofacial Development
A common facial characteristic in children who are habitual mouth breathers is a long, narrow face with a high, vaulted palate. The shape of the palate is largely influenced by the position of the tongue. When the tongue rests against the roof of the mouth, as it should, it helps guide the development of the teeth and palate by exerting gentle outward and sideways pressure. In mouth breathers, the tongue sits low because the mouth is open, reducing this critical contact and affecting facial development.
Mouth breathing also puts tension on the muscles in the face. This tension can pull facial structures inward, contributing to a narrower face and a constricted airway. In children, there is still an opportunity to reverse these effects because their cranial sutures have not yet fused, allowing the facial structure and airway to be shaped and expanded. Once the cranial sutures fuse in adulthood, however, changes become much more difficult to achieve, often requiring orthodontic treatments or surgery to widen the palate and airway.
Habitual mouth breathing can also influence posture. Children and adults often adapt their tongue posture to keep the airway open, which can cause the head to tip slightly backward or shift forward. These changes impact the muscles in the neck, chest, and shoulders, and can create cascading effects throughout the body.
What else you should know:
Mouth breathing is a habit that develops over time. It alters the tone of the facial muscles, affecting the area from the shoulders up to the eyes. While it’s possible to stop mouth breathing without therapy, restoring proper muscle tone in the face and surrounding areas requires targeted treatment. Below are the most common reasons for the establishment of mouth breathing:
Allergies
Thumb or finger sucking habit
Low tongue posture
A physical restriction in the tongue
Enlarged tonsils or adenoids
Chronic nasal congestion
Respiratory infection
Each of these factors, or a history of any one of them, makes it physically difficult for a person to breathe through the nose. If nasal breathing is not possible, the body’s only choice is to mouth breathe. The body begins using the emergency access point, the mouth, when needed, allowing you to continue living, but without all the other benefits of nasal breathing.
Over time, mouth breathing weakens the muscles of the tongue, which can lead to low tongue posture and an abnormal swallowing pattern. This can affect speech, swallowing, breathing, and chewing, yes, chewing. This means your digestive system is affected too!
Nasal Breathing
Breathing through your nose is a primitive function of the body. This means that we were born doing it, naturally, unless an abnormality has occurred. Nasal breathing allows for filtering, humidifying, and warming of the air. While it is true that nasal breathing doesn’t allow for a large in take of air, like mouth breathing, slowing down the volume of air that enters the lungs is a mechanism that allows more time for oxygen exchange. This results in a 10 to 20 percent increase of oxygen uptake.
There are many benefits to nasal breathing:
Air is filtered in order to remove: dust, dirt, pollen, dander and other allergens.
Nitric oxide is produced in the nose that kills bacteria and viruses, increases blood flow, allows for better oxygen absorption in the lungs.
Moisture is added to the air before it reaches the lungs.
Temperature and speed is adjusted to make it easier for the lungs to utilize the air.
Improves lung volume.
Allows for diaphragmatic breathing.
Activates parasympathetic (calming) nervous system.
Decreases anxiety.
Makes you less likely to get sick.
Improves athletic performance
