Breathe Right For Better Health
by Dr. Rita Dargham D.M.D.
Read Breathe Right For Better Health by Dr. Rita Dargham D.M.D. to learn more about Grove Smiles® Dentistry and our Dentistry office in Coconut Grove, FL.
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Breathing is as natural as the air we breathe. Under normal conditions, this healthy body process of oxygenating is automatic, even to the depth and rate at which we do so. So if we said there was an unhealthy way to breathe, would it take you by surprise? It just might.
Today, we would like to enlighten you on why breathing through your mouth rather than your nose can lead to many health and hygiene problems. Establishing healthy breathing habits and even breaking bad habits that may have developed early in life is essential.
The Short-Term Downside of Mouth-Breathing
Mouth-breathing can cause many short-term issues, many of which are connected to poor sleep quality due to insufficient oxygen by breathing through the mouth. If you exhibit the following symptoms, investigate further, as it may be due to mouth-breathing.
1. Impaired Speech: when your mouth is always open, certain sounds become harder to say.
2. Halitosis (chronic bad breath): an open mouth tends to be dry, which means there isn’t enough saliva to clean out the germs.
3. Tooth Decay: other serious byproducts of dry mouth are tooth decay and cavities.
4. Irritability, Lethargy, and Inattention: less oxygen means worse sleep, making it much harder to focus and have quick, concise thoughts, not to mention the impact on your happy demeanor.
Long-Term Dental and Health Consequences
While the above issues are bad enough, the problems from mouth-breathing don’t stop there. If left uncorrected, mouth-breathing may cause the following:
Teeth Shifting: whether our teeth were made beautifully straight by orthodontic or Invisalign treatments, they are more likely to return to their pre-braces position.
Altered Facial Structure: the bones in the face can develop or change due to the mouth-breathing, resulting in flatter features, droopy eyes, a narrow jaw, and a smaller chin.
Sleep Apnea: a severe sleep disorder that occurs when a person’s breathing is interrupted during sleep. People with untreated sleep apnea repeatedly stop breathing during their sleep, sometimes hundreds of times. This stop in breathing means the brain — and the rest of the body — may not get enough oxygen.
TMJ: a type of temporomandibular disorder or TMD that can cause pain in your jaw joint and the muscles that control jaw movement.
What Causes The Habit of Mouth-Breathing?
Many different scenarios can cause the habit of mouth-breathing. For some, it is merely a habit in which we need to make a conscious effort to breathe through our nose to correct. However, for others who may suffer from a misaligned bite that makes it challenging to keep the mouth closed, allergies that block the nose, or large tonsils that obstruct the airway, the solution to stop mouth breathing is a little more complicated.
Breaking The Open Mouth Cycle
If you have a mouth-breathing habit, it often isn’t as simple to break as telling you to stop. When mouth-breathing is caused by one of the more challenging problems listed above, they will need treatment before nose-breathing can become natural (and, in some cases, possible).
Ready To Learn More?
If you want to learn more, schedule an appointment with us at Grove Smiles Dentistry of Coconut Grove, FL. Our team has over forty years of experience helping the Coconut Grove community restore and revitalize their smiles and oral health.
For Your Health,
Dr. Rita Dargham D.M.D.
