A Parent's Guide to Mouth Breathing in Kids
Do you have a little mouth breather in your household? Mouth breathing is common in kids (and adults) and might not seem like a big deal. But did you know that mouth breathing can have a negative impact on your child’s overall health? In fact, mouth breathing can interfere with how your child’s face and jaw grows and develops, and is the leading cause of facial irregularities in kids. It can also disrupt other crucial functions, such as sleeping and whole-body development.
At Foundations Orthodontics, our priority is to lay the groundwork for a lifetime of oral health and facial harmony. Naturally, that foundation starts in childhood and continues through adolescence and into adulthood. The key is prevention — the sooner we identify issues or poor oral health habits, the better chance we have of preventing and correcting further problems. With preventive dentistry and holistic orthodontics, we can intervene and help your child overcome mouth breathing before they experience any lasting negative effects.
In this post, your Denver, Granby and Winter Park orthodontists will share:
What you should know about mouth breathing
What causes mouth breathing in children
Side effects of mouth breathing
How to stop your toddler from mouth breathing
How early orthodontics can help prevent mouth breathing in kids
My Child Breathes Through Her Mouth at Night — What Do I Need to Know?
The first thing you should know about mouth breathing is that it is not a natural way to breathe. Healthy individuals naturally breathe through their nose with their mouth closed, so if you’ve noticed that your child has started to breathe through their mouth, it’s an indication that there’s an underlying issue.
To determine whether your child is a mouth breather, observe their sleep patterns and how they breathe when they’re asleep. The most obvious sign, of course, is that they sleep with their mouth open and breathe through their mouth, rather than through their nose. Some other signs include: snorting when they cry, snoring when they sleep, grinding their teeth at night, dry lips and breathing through their mouth even when they’re awake.
What Causes Mouth Breathing in Toddlers and Children?
If you’ve determined that your child is, in fact, breathing through their mouth at night, you’re probably wondering why. There are a few causes of mouth breathing in kids but the most common cause is an obstruction in the nasal passage. If your child can’t get enough oxygen through their nose, their innate survival instinct will kick in and they will start breathing through their mouth. While no one actively “chooses” to breathe through their mouth, mouth breathing can become habitual: once your child gets used to breathing that way, it becomes harder for them to stop.
Mouth breathing may also be caused by:
Congestion from colds, sinus infections or allergies
A deviated septum
Polyps
Tongue-tie
Enlarged tonsils or adenoids (glands located above the roof of your mouth, behind the nose)
What are the Risks of Mouth Breathing?
Believe it or not, when it comes to your child’s facial and jaw development, mouth breathing comes with some real risks. The main concern from an orthodontic perspective is the risk of developing a condition that’s known as “Adenoid facies.” If left untreated, chronic mouth breathing can lead to facial irregularities such as a long, narrow face, crowded teeth and a recessed jaw. The concerns of this long face extend far beyond just the aesthetics— poor jaw growth can lead to a host of other oral health problems and full-body developmental concerns, such as postural issues, malocclusion (misaligned bite), disrupted sleep and more.
Here are some of the main concerns with kids mouth breathing:
Disrupted sleep: Since mouth breathing interferes with natural breathing, it also makes it difficult to enter deep sleep. Children who mouth breathe may have irregular sleep patterns and struggle to relax into restful sleep.
Slow growth: Sleep is essential for all of us, but is especially crucial to children’s growth and development. That’s because deep sleep allows the body to naturally release the growth hormone. Since mouth breathers don’t sleep as soundly, this can negatively affect a child’s growth.
More cavities: Breathing through the mouth often leads to dry mouth, a condition that occurs when the mouth does not produce enough saliva. Saliva is a critical part of our mouth’s self-cleaning process: it rinses away food particles, plaque and debris, helping to keep our teeth clean and healthy. With dry mouth, all of that gunk builds up on the teeth, which ultimately leads to cavity formation. Dry mouth and cavities can also cause bad breath.
Behavioral changes: Even the best of us get cranky when we don’t get enough sleep. As a result of poor sleep habits, children who breathe through their mouths may experience behavioral problems. Deep sleep gives children (and adults) the opportunity to rest and reset both their brains and their bodies. If your child is constantly waking themselves up throughout the night, or is blocked from getting deep sleep because of mouth breathing, there’s a good chance they will exhibit irritability, hyperactivity and chronic fatigue. In fact, it is believed that ADHD has often been misdiagnosed in a lot of kids that actually just had bad sleep habits.
Problems with face and jaw growth: We’ve mentioned this already but it’s worth emphasizing again: chronic mouth breathing in children can lead to irregularities in their jaw and facial development. Kids’ bodies are constantly growing and changing, and that includes their faces. In order to ensure their facial and jaw bones develop in healthy harmony, we need to address mouth breathing as early as possible.
How to Prevent Mouth Breathing in Children
You might be wondering, “Do kids outgrow mouth breathing?” It’s true that some kids may get over the habit of mouth breathing on their own, but waiting for the problem to resolve itself can be problematic. The longer you wait to deal with your child’s mouth breathing, the more problems they are likely to face as a result. The exception to this is if your child has a cold or sinus infection, or if they are suffering from allergies. These are acute conditions that may temporarily cause your child to breathe through their mouth, but the issue will likely resolve once your child is healthy again.
As parents, you can do your part by keeping an eye on your child’s breathing and sleeping patterns to make sure they’re developing healthy habits. Here are some ways to help your child overcome mouth breathing at home:
Try breath work: If your child is old enough, you can help retrain their breathing. By explaining where the tongue should be with their mouth closed and encouraging them to breathe through their nose, you can work together to overcome mouth breathing.
Try mouth taping: You can also use porous mouth tape to help secure the mouth shut overnight. Taping the upper and lower lips together will encourage your child to breathe through their mouth when they’re asleep.
Prevent poor oral habits: Common habits like thumb sucking and tongue thrusting may contribute to mouth breathing. If you’re having trouble getting your child to stop sucking their thumb, speak to your pediatric dentist, orthodontist or myofunctional therapist for strategies and support.
Manage symptoms of allergies, colds or infections: As we mentioned, mouth breathing may be the result of congestion from colds, allergies or sinus infections. By helping your child keep their nasal passage clear or using medications to ease congestion, you can help them return to naturally breathing through their nose.
Orthodontics and Mouth Breathing: What’s the Connection?
At Foundations Orthodontics, we take a proactive and preventive approach to children’s oral health. While it’s difficult to prevent mouth breathing altogether, we can intervene and treat the underlying issue before more serious structural problems occur. If you suspect your child might be breathing through their mouth at night, it’s important to have them assessed by an orthodontist in Denver, Granby or Winter Park.
The American Association of Orthodontists recommends that all children visit an orthodontist by the age of seven. By this age, your child has enough of their permanent teeth that we can identify potential developmental problems and take action if needed. With early treatment, we can guide the ideal development of your child’s facial and jaw bones to make more space for incoming adult teeth and create a healthier smile.
Of course, we will never recommend orthodontic treatment unless it will have significant benefit to the patient. In the case of mouth breathing, there are a number of ways orthodontic treatment can help with both intervention and treatment.
Palatal expanders: Typically used to create more space for crowded teeth, palatal expanders slowly and gently widen the roof of the mouth. They can also be used to increase nasal airflow and reduce congestion, which can help restore your child’s natural nose breathing.
Treatment with braces or clear aligners: If your child’s jaw has developed irregularly as a result of chronic mouth breathing, orthodontic treatment can help. Whether you choose braces or clear aligners like Invisalign or 3M Clarity aligners, orthodontic treatment brings the jaw back into proper alignment. This will not only improve your child’s overall oral health — it will restore proper facial harmony and create a more beautiful smile.
Surgery to remove obstructions: If there is a physical obstruction that’s causing your child’s mouth breathing, you may opt for surgery to open the airway. Surgery can effectively remove adenoids or enlarged tonsils, repair a deviated septum or correct tongue-tie, clearing the way for your child to breathe comfortably through their nose.
When it comes to mouth breathing in children, the most important thing is to be proactive. It may not seem like a big concern at first, but it can cause serious problems in the future. Suspect that your child is a mouth breather? Don’t worry. Dr. Renee Moran and the Foundations Orthodontics team are here to support you. Contact us today to book a consultation.