12/05/2024
Tongue posture is so important!
Mouth breathing is a habit you need to overcome to improve your health.
Most people don't know where to start.
Mouth breathing stunts the shape of your jaw, and can contribute to the development of crooked teeth.
This occurs both in children who mouth breathe, as their jaws are developing, their adult teeth then don't have enough space to fit into their dental arch.
The result is at the age of 12 or 13, they have crooked teeth, and are require orthodontic braces to correct them.
In adults, teeth can drift with or without orthodontic treatment, if you breathe through the mouth.
So, how do we stop a mouth breathing habit?
Breathing is a subconscious process run by your autonomic nervous system. Mouth breathers will feel uncomfortable when breathing through the nose.
The reason is that nasal breathing slower, carbon dioxide gas makes a slow rise in the body that allows the transfer of oxygen in cells.
Mouth breathing is short inefficient exchange of gases.
Changing this perception of breathing in your body is important, but it's not easy.
One strategy to remind yourself to breathe through the nose is to strengthen the tongue to seal to the roof of the mouth.
Oral posture involves sealing the tongue to the roof of the mouth.
If you learn this posture as a child, your palate widens due to the pressure of the tongue, which better develops a jaw that fits adult teeth.
The really important thing about tongue posture is that it makes it impossible to breathe through the mouth
Try it.
Seal your tongue upwards like a table to the your palate.
Now try breathe through the mouth.
See?
This is how you build a postural reminder to breathe through the nose.
The added advantage is that when you strengthen the tongue, it strengthens the muscles that support the throat that hold your airway open.
It's especially important at night when you sleep. Teaching your tongue to seal to the roof of the mouth during sleep can both, change the shape of the dental arch, and prevent breathing associated issues like snoring.
In children if you correct this habit, teeth will straighten to an extent themselves, its remarkable to watch!
Do you struggle with mouth breathing?