Can Orthodontics Improve Breathing?
There is an interesting relationship between your oral health, any orthodontic complications, and your overall health. Having straighter teeth makes it easier to keep them clean, leading to healthier teeth and gums. One issue that does not get enough attentions is mouth breathing.
Many orthodontists review the relationship between craniofacial development, proper dental alignment, and airway development. There is an increase in the analysis of how specialized orthodontic treatment will help treat mouth breathing.
Many of the underlying causes of orthodontic problems, like dental malalignment, jaw malocclusions, and growth complications also contribute to breathing impairment. Any of these malformations can make it difficult to breathe through the nose, causing chronic mouth breathing and leading to sleep apnea, sleep disorders, and extending poor health.
Some orthodontists try to treat craniofacial development to improve proper form and function from an early age. Orthodontics can help children enjoy healthy development. If your child is evaluated at the age of seven, an orthodontist can review their skeletal growth and correct issues while their bones are still malleable.
How Do You Know if You are Mouth Breathing?
As with many other habits, it is often something you do subconsciously. The following list of signs and symptoms might determine if you are a mouth breather. The tests performed by orthodontists will help identify your condition and what treatment is appropriate. Mouth breathing symptoms start with these:
- Persistent bad breath.
- A constant dry mouth.
- Consistent snoring.
- Feeling tired and irritable when you wake up.
These are indicative signs that something is not normal, but also does not necessarily mean that you have a mouth breathing problem. You should set an appointment with your dentist for an evaluation.
Mouth breathing create the following problems:
- An elongated face and narrow nostrils.
- Trouble sealing lips and dry lips.
- A narrowed upper lip or a forward open bite.
Orthodontics Can Improve Breathing
Orthodontics can help make airway and breathing improvements. Mouth breathing is reversible in children when your orthodontist identifies it. This is why the American Association of Orthodontists recommend orthodontic evaluations for children at the age of seven.
At this early age most growing children will not require intensive treatment. If your orthodontist diagnoses problems like mouth breathing, you will be relieved to know your child can receive the interceptive treatment they need.
Treatment might include a device to expand the jaw. This process makes the mouth wider and opens the sinuses, making it easier for the child to breathe through their nose.
Sleep apnea is a medical problem but can be treated with an orthodontic solution. Airway-focused orthodontics focuses on link between optimal breathing and the long-term health benefits. Breathing obstructions can force your body to compensate for lower oxygen levels.
Research has shown that the body’s sustained struggle for sufficient oxygen over an extended period can result in an increased risk for numerous health problems. Frequent occurrences of upper airway obstruction during sleep, called obstructive sleep apnea, occurs in more than 18 million American adults, and up to 5 percent with children.
Orthodontic treatment can be developed around encouraging the best airway possible, especially in a growing child when the airway problem is caught early. Airways can be treated in their development and enlarged. This is vital for you if you suffer from sleep apnea and crucial in children at risk for developing sleep apnea. They can easily develop medical health problems such as behavioral and learning problems, impaired growth, and heart disease.