Good morning.

Nasal breathing can significantly affect oral health, airway function, and systemic disease risk.

Today’s Clinical Corner explores how mouth breathing affects facial development, highlighting the importance of early intervention and promoting nasal breathing.

In Today’s Edition:

1. Mouth breathing negatively impacts oral health and facial development.

2. Breathing patterns affect airway resistance during sleep.

3. CE Opportunities / Events

4. Dr. Bennett’s tips for screening patients for mouth breathing.

5-minute read👇

Clinical Corner

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Key Takeaways🔑

What This Means For Your Practice

When predicting orthodontic therapy outcomes, realize mouthbreathing patients may have less retention stability if their mouthbreathing is not addressed during therapy.

A study published in Nature found that habitual mouth breathers often experience weakened tongue posture, reduced chewing efficiency, and changes in facial growth. Specifically, children who breathe through their mouths tend to develop long, narrow faces, high palates, and retruded mandibles, which are characteristic features of skeletal malocclusion.

Breathing through your mouth can lead to oral health problems. A Frontiers in Public Health found that people who breathe through their mouths often have dry mouths, more plaque, and swollen gums because they produce less saliva. This makes them more likely to get cavities and gum disease.

Reduced Airway Resistance and OSA Risk

According to the European Respiratory Journal, breathing through your nose can make breathing easier and may reduce the risk of sleep problems like obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). It helps keep the airways stable, leading to better oxygen levels and less disturbed sleep at night.

Tips For Screening Patients:

• Ask patients about chronic nasal congestion, dry mouth, or daytime fatigue.

• Use intraoral exams to identify high palates, narrow arches, and gingival inflammation.

• Conduct airway evaluations, assessing for nasal obstruction or enlarged tonsils

• Educate patients on nasal breathing exercises to retrain their breathing patterns. Buteyko Breathing Techniques, as well as Myofunctional Exercises.

• Address allergies, nasal obstructions, and sleep posture to encourage healthy breathing habits.

Something Sweet

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CE Opportunities / Events

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Miscellaneous

😅P.S. … I forgot something…

Nasal breathing improves oxygenation, immune function, and sleep quality. Make screening standard—myofunctional therapy is a simple, powerful tool to help patients transition to healthier breathing.