JUST BREATH!!!

This is the most common phrase you will hear when you are anxious, angry, upset or unnerved. Whether your loved ones understand your anxiety or not, the advice to ‘Just Breath’ will definitely help you. Because breathing deeply sends signals to your brain to calm your nerves and relieve stress. Although, have you ever thought about breathing, probably not because it is an unconscious reflex? Let's take a moment here and think about it, especially mouth breathing. 

One might ask, what is the difference, breathing is breathing. However, there is a vast contrast between the two, breathing from the mouth may cause unwanted health issues whereas breathing from your nose helps your wellbeing and supports your oral health.

Shocked? We must remember that ‘Nose is for breathing and mouth is for eating’ even though both passages may seem to work fine, either way.

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NOSE BREATHING

Why is nose breathing important?

Nitric Oxide is a vasodilator that gets produced inside your nose and reaches the lungs during respiration through the nose. Mixing Nitric Oxide in the air one breath helps with more absorption of oxygen by the lungs. It also dilated the blood vessels that transport more amount of oxygenated blood to the entire body and eventually reduces blood pressure.

This Nitric Oxide is also antifungal, antiviral, antiparasitic, and antibacterial in nature which means it supports the immune system to fight infections when respiration is done via the nose.

ADVANTAGES

Several advantages of nose breathing:
The nose filters small particles like pollen and pollutants.
Adds moisture to the crisp air and warms up the cold air to body temperature to help the lungs.
Adds resistance to the air stream and increases oxygen uptake by maintaining the lungs’ elasticity.

MOUTH BREATHING
To your surprise, mouth breathing may cause serious facial deformities, poor overall growth, crooked teeth, bad breath, gum diseases and oral infections.

Symptoms mouth breathers may have:
Waking up tired & irritable
Chronic fatigue
Bad breath (halitosis)
Hoarseness of voice
Brain fog
Dark circles under the eyes
Snoring
Dry mouth
Bleeding gums

EFFECTS OF MOUTH BREATHING IN CHILDREN

In children mouth breathing can cause more than just oral issues, it can literally affect their growth and even give rise to deformities like crooked teeth, elongated faces, crowding, proclination of upper teeth, deformative growth of lower jaw and asymmetry of the face, spacing in the front teeth etc

Symptoms to look out for mouth breathing in children:
Slower growth rate
Excess of crying & irritability
Larger tonsils
Dry and/or cracked lips
Concentrating problems
Drowsiness even after REM sleep
Speech impediment (mispronunciation of words)
Multiple teeth decay
Bleeding gums
Decreased immunity
Developmental anomalies like cleft lip, cleft palate, anodontia

One of the most common issues with mouth breathing that everyone will experience is mouth drying and a dry mouth means there is less saliva present. This way mouthbreathers fester more germs in their mouth since the absence of saliva is the natural mouth rinser.

Mouth breathing causes bad breath (halitosis), gum diseases (e.g, gingivitis) and cavities. All these problems are interlinked; less amount of saliva let germs grow in the mouth and forms plaque which causes bad breath, infections and cavities. Apart from that mouthbreathers may also get frequent throat and ear infections.

Stopping mouth breathing to reduce health issues is as important in adults as it is in children. Children who do not get treated for mouth breathing can develop gummy smiles, dental malocclusion, crowded teeth, poor posture, etc.

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Certainly, the solution originates from good oral hygiene, brushing two times a day for two minutes followed by flossing once a day, is a mantra you mustn’t forget!
HOW TO STOP MOUTH BREATHING?

Like all other medical conditions, mouth breathing treatment depends on the cause of it. There are several reasons for mouth breathing other than just a casual habit. 

Mouth breathing treatment
Habit breaking appliances like oral screen
Myofunctional appliances to correct the jaw abnormalities
Check for adenoids or tonsils to be removed
Correction of DNS
Sinusitis 
Correcting micrognathia
Correction of cleft lips, cleft palate
Nasal congestion 
Cancerous/non-cancerous growth
Soft Palate improper growth or fibrosis

Do not panic! It can also be a habit too. Get medical advice on how to effectively stop mouth breathing. Conscious nose breathing practice, while you are awake, is always a good place to start. 

Finding the best dentist to consult regarding mouth breathing or the issues you may have developed because of it, may seem like a tough job to do. This is why MyDentalPlan is always here to help you. 

With over 5000+ skilled dentists onboarded across the nation and 1800+ dental practices that possess state of the art technology to serve you, we are enabled to care for your overall wellbeing. Find the best dental plans here, https://mydentalplan.in/plans-and-packages to reduce your out of pocket expenses, also get treatment cost financing, treatment benefit plans and much more @ https://mydentalplan.in/ - India’s Largest Dental Network.