THE TONGUE

Mouth breathing changes the way the tongue works and where it rests in the mouth.

Your tongue should naturally rest at the top of your mouth; however, when your mouth is open, it rests at the bottom.

This leads to underdeveloped oral musculature, and can cause problems with speech, swallowing, breathing, and chewing. When the tongue rests low in the mouth, it must push forward to swallow - this is called a tongue thrust.

A tongue thrust and mouth breathing always go hand in hand.

Believe it or not, breathing through your mouth can actually change the shape of your face and alter your appearance.

This is especially true for children because they are still growing. Children whose mouth breathing is not corrected may suffer from abnormal facial and dental development.

Symptoms of untreated mouth breathing include long, narrow faces and mouths, less defined cheekbones, small lower jaws, and weak chins. Other facial symptoms include gummy smiles and crooked teeth.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)is the most common. This is where the tongue falls back to your throat, blocking your airway.  Your Apnea Hypoxia Index score determines whether you are mild, moderate or severe.  Neuroplasticity plays a major role in re-training your tongue placement along with proper chewing, breathing and swallowing.

There is tissue underneath your tongue called the lingual frenum.  Depending on the degree of the restriction, it can make tongue placement harder to stay up on the roof of your mouth, which can lead to mouth breathing and sleep apnea.

Improper swallowing happens when your tongue is pushing against your teeth and not on the top of your palate (roof of your mouth). This can lead to an open bite. Orthodontic can re-position your teeth but if swallowing is not corrected than re-lapse will occur.