MOUTH

Chronic mouth breathing  is the habit of not closing the jaws and lips during rest, and breathing through the mouth, rather than the nose. Most people breathe through their noses normally. But when they are having a cold or an allergic reaction they might breathe trough the mouth temporarily. If that behavior persists, even after the cold has disappeared it is called chronic. The mouth muscles become weaker (together with the intercostal muscles. Other causes can be an obstruction in the nose or big tonsils. Then, the mouth is simply open to get enough air. 

There are several consequenses:
-the mouth dries out
-less saliva that will cause…
-dried out gums and bigger risk for caries
-less swallowing which causes…
-the eustachian tube to be cleared less often which causes…
-a bigger risk for ear inflammations and other health problems.

Another unwanted mouth behavior is sucking on a pacifier, fingers, lips or thumbs. It is normal for infants and toddlers to suck on a pacifier, thumb or fingers, because they still have a big need for sucking. It gives them a feeling of safety. Later on, this can become an unwanted behavior which causes teeth to misalign or change the form of the palate. It also increases the chances of weak oral motor control that in its turn could cause an immature swallowing pattern. That’s why it is important for the child to stop this behavior as fast as possible.

Nail biting puts a big pressure on the jaw joints. It can also cause misalignments of the teeth and later cause pain and a popping sound (TMD).

Jessica will give you advice about what kind of treatment is suitable and will adjust it to your child. Children that are mouth breathers will have to learn as fast as possible to breathe through their noses to prevent ear inflammations. This is done by exercises that strengthen the oral muscles and promote nose breathing. Also, a correct tongue position during rest and speech will be trained. Parents will learn to give mouth massage, to gain more mouth awareness for the child in an unconscious way. The child doesn’t need to be active, which is really convenient for younger children. Learning new swallowing patterns can start before or after the new incissors (upper front teeth) have broken trough. It is a good thing to have stopped with sucking on pacifier/thumb/fingers already before that happens, since it negatively affects the development of the teeth.