Every Breath You Take

In the past dental and dental hygiene education touched on the more visible problems of mouth breathers, that of dry, inflamed oral tissues around upper teeth but no mention of a difference in the physiology of breathing between the nose or the mouth nor the structural problems that later may require orthodontics, sleep apnoea treatment and in some cases, surgery.


We automatically ask patients to open their mouth while in the chair but how often do we check that when the mouth is closed the patient is breathing easily through their nose??

It is only now that we have the evidence that there are more serious and long lasting implications than simply drying the oral tissues.

Mouth breathers are prone to various problems which may include some of the following fibromyalgia, acid reflux, poor palate development, ADHD, allergies, nasal congestion, low energy levels.

What happens when we breathe?

When we are breathing through our noses, we are filtering, warming, dehumidifying and moisturizing air through our nostrils and the function of breathing is to deliver oxygen to the cells of the body and to remove excess carbon dioxide. The human body needs about 2-3 % oxygen and as the atmosphere contains on average 21% so the body does not need to store it. Carbon dioxide, however, is only found in concentrations of 0.03% in the atmosphere so our bodies need to store CO2 in our lungs and blood. CO2 has several functions including, helping release oxygen from haemoglobin, trigger breathing, prevent smooth muscle spasms. These are all impaired or reduced with mouth breathers.

Several things go wrong with mouth breathing, beginning with oxygen/carbon dioxide exchange , the position of the tongue and swallowing air.

The low levels of carbon dioxide associated with mouth breathing trigger faster breathing leading to hyperventilation or over breathing, as less oxygen is delivered to the brain, muscles and cells of the body, the mouth breather may be left feeling tired in the morning and in mid-afternoon. The dryness and lack of air filtration in mouth breathers can cause respiratory tract infections, and inflamed tonsils. Lower levels of carbon dioxide cause smooth muscle spasms associated with gastric reflux, asthma and bed wetting.

How do we know if we mouth breathe?

Determining mouth breathers is not easy! Some people admit they always breathe through their mouths and interestingly others believe they are nose breathers but if you watch them, sitting still they might have their mouths closed but if they get up and walk across the room, their mouth is open. It becomes very interesting watching your friends and family do this! One sign of mouth breathers is an addiction to lip balm as an open mouth leads to drooling, both asleep and awake, causing chapped lips and a tendency for mouth breathers to lick their lips frequently. Children who mouth breathe have an underdeveloped, narrow maxilla with a high vault and this can lead to them developing obstructive sleep apnoea later in life.

What can be done?

At Absolute Dental, we ask our patients to update us on their general health as this can also provide some indicators which may link to mouth breathing problems e.g. snoring. As clinicians we are in the perfect position to evaluate mouth and nose breathing, check for tongue rest position and and intervene early with young children to assure normal skeletal development and help mouth breathers of all ages become nose breathers. It's not always a case of open wide........................................

Maureen