5 Questions to Ask About Dental Health

There are a number of reasons why breathing through your nose is better than through the mouth. You can take deeper breaths; this improves the oxygen flow to the body. It improves pH levels and a feeling of calmness and helps with athletic performance. Unfortunately, about half of all children regularly breathe through their mouths and this could be harming their health.

There are several areas where your child’s health may be affected by breathing through the mouth. Facial developmental issues are a concern, as they can create crowded and crooked teeth. Mouth breathing can also affect facial development. There can be issues with frequent infections, like tonsillitis and ear infections. Mouth breathing can contribute to low energy levels and may cause obstructive sleep apnea. The earlier this is caught in a child, the easier it can be corrected.

Oral care that focuses on the position of the tongue and mouth breathing can offer many benefits today and in the future.

Interceptive orthodontics is an approach to orthodontics that is phased to assist the development of the mouth and face and potentially correct problems that may arise if assistance doesn’t happen. It is recommended that children as early as age seven see an orthodontist to evaluate if treatment may be required.

Interceptive orthodontic treatment will typically begin around age eight or nine. The second phase of treatment will begin around age eleven. The reason for this is to correct the growth of the jaw and issues that can be related to that. Early treatment helps to make room for proper teeth placement and development.

Tongue-tie is a potentially serious problem. It can affect speech, airway development, and facial appearance. This can often be resolved with a procedure called a frenectomy. If this is something that you may be considering, it may be important to know how myofunctional therapy can play a role in the treatment process.

Myofunctional therapy is a physical therapy that is focused on the face and oral structures. It involves exercising the orofacial muscles to work together in harmony. It helps to create a proper bite, easier breathing, and correct facial development and posture. It promotes good health benefits and aesthetic advantages. Myofunctional therapy is often needed before and after a frenectomy. It helps patients get rid of bad habits and poor posture that happened as a result of the tongue-tie.

Your nose and mouth offer two ways of breathing. Even so, there are differences between mouth and nose breathing, with nose breathing being the most beneficial.

Your nose is designed for you to breathe safely, efficiently, and properly. It will do this because it has the ability to filter out foreign particles that the mouth cannot. It will humidify the air you inhale. Your nose moisturizes and warms the air that you breathe in and makes it easier for the lungs to use. It will also produce nitric oxide, which is a vasodilator. This helps to widen blood vessels and helps improve oxygen flow in the body.

The functions that the nose provides add to improved health. Breathing through the nose slows breathing and improves lung capacity. It reduces the risk of allergies and hay fever. This aids the immune system, and reduces the risk of sleep apnea and snoring.

For people who have mild to moderate sleep apnea, dental appliances can help alleviate the problem. Dental appliances or oral mandibular devices can prevent the tongue from blocking the throat. They can do this by moving the lower jaw forward, helping to open the airway during sleep. A dentist and sleep specialist can help determine if this treatment will work for you.

Allure Dental Care works with issues of obstructive sleep apnea, issues concerning the posture of the tongue, and interceptive early orthodontics. If you wish to learn about these and other oral care, please call. We will be very glad to help. We serve patients from Mountain View CA, Sunnyvale CA, Los Altos CA, Stanford CA, Menlo Park CA, Atherton CA, Loyola CA, Cupertino CA, Palo Alto CA, Redwood City CA and surrounding Bay Area Cities.