Mouth Breathing Basics & Why It Matters

What is mouth breathing?

 Mouth breathing refers to breathing performed predominantly through the mouth vs. breathing through the nose.

Is there a difference between mouth breathing and nasal breathing?

Yes! Nasal breathing filters, warms and humidifies the air. When you breathe through your mouth the air does not go through this process and the air that reaches the lungs can be full of impurities. The oral rest posture of the tongue and mandible when mouth breathing may alter mandibular posture, palate width and other craniofacial growth patterns. 

What causes mouth breathing? 

The most common causes of mouth breathing include: allergic rhinitis, sinusitis, enlarged adenoids, enlarged tonsils, weakness or low tone of facial muscles, and thumb sucking.

How can mouth breathing affect functions related to the mouth and face? 

Mouth breathing leads to open mouth chewing which becomes faster, noisier and less efficient than chewing with lips closed. This increases the risk for choking due to poor coordination between breathing, chewing and can increase swallowing of air. It is hard to breathe through the mouth when it is full of food! In the process of swallowing, one may notice changes such as tongue thrusting, loud swallowing and contraction of muscles around the mouth. Tongue thrusting can cause distortion of speech characterized by forward lisp during production of /s/ and /z/.

What are the main disadvantages caused by mouth breathing?

 

• When sleeping with the mouth open, a person may experience restless sleep, snoring, headaches, drooling, thirst when waking up, morning sleepiness, decreased oxygen saturation and increased risk for sleep apnea. 
• Sleep disturbances can cause decreased levels of alertness, challenges with concentration and increased anxiety.
• Children who mouth breathe often experience more colds, ear infections and throat infections.
• Hoarse vocal quality can be a symptom of mouth breathing due to a drying out of structures used to produce voice.
• It can negatively affect eating and speech.

 

What can be done about mouth breathing?

Talk to your doctor about getting a referral to a myofunctional therapist or speech therapist with myofunctional training. In most cases, your therapist will work within a team including otolaryngologist/ENT and/or an allergist. Once underlying causes are identified or ruled out, myofunctional and speech therapy can help decrease thumb sucking habits, reeducation muscles in the mouth and face to facilitate nasal breathing and address functional impairments in eating and speech.