How Myofunctional Therapy Helps Children Stop Mouth Breathing

If you’ve noticed that your child tends to breathe through their mouth most of the time, you may not think it’s a big deal. But actually, mouth breathing can cause serious issues with your child’s oral health and development. Not only that, but it can also contribute to things like a higher risk of sleep apnea, temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ), and speech impediments.

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But why is mouth breathing such a big deal, and how can you get your child to stop? In this guide from Inspira Advanced Dentistry, we’ll dive into the causes of mouth breathing, why it matters, and how pediatric myofunctional therapy from our team can help your child overcome mouth breathing.

What Is Mouth Breathing And What Causes It?

It’s normal to breathe through your mouth every once in a while. Maybe you have a cold and your nose is clogged up, or you’re exercising and need to breathe through your mouth to keep your oxygen intake up. That’s normal!

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But it’s not normal to always breathe through your mouth at rest. In medical terms, this is called “open mouth posture,” and you may have noticed it in your child. If your little one tends to have their mouth open while they're at rest and doing things like watching TV or playing with toys, they may have open mouth posture.

What causes mouth open mouth posture?

Lots of things can cause open mouth posture. In some cases, it may just be a bad habit that your child is used to. Or, in many cases, your child breathes through their mouth because they have issues breathing through their nose. Allergies, colds, a deviated septum, or other issues like enlarged tonsils and adenoids can make it harder to breathe through the nose properly.

What are the negative effects of mouth breathing?

One of the biggest effects of mouth breathing is that it contributes to improper oral development. As your child’s mouth, jaws, and teeth develop, open mouth posture can cause things like bite alignment issues, a narrowing of their palate, tongue thrusting, and even an inability to close their lips fully, in some cases.

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These issues affect your child’s appearance and their oral health, too. Children with crowded and crooked teeth, bite issues, or narrow palates may have a harder time keeping their mouths clean. In turn, this can lead to a higher risk of cavities, gum disease, and other dental problems.

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Along with dental health issues, mouth breathing and open mouth posture are also associated with lower quality sleep, a higher risk of developing sleep apnea, dysfunction of the jaw joints, speech impediments, and more.

Understanding The Importance Of Proper Oral Posture

So, if mouth breathing is bad, what is “good” oral posture? It consists of four elements:

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1. The mouth is closed, with the teeth either touching or slightly apart
2. The lips are sealed
3. The tongue is resting on the top of the mouth or right behind the front teeth
4. Breathing through the nose

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This may seem pretty simple, but it’s important. With proper oral posture, your child can enjoy a number of benefits as they continue to grow and their mouths develop:

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• Supports nasal breathing – Breathing through the nose is healthier overall than breathing through the mouth. Nasal breathing helps filter out particles, moistens air, and encourages more efficient breathing and oxygen uptake overall.
• Ensures proper oral development – With proper oral posture, your child’s tongue and facial muscles will be exerting gentle pressure on their teeth and jaws. This encourages the proper alignment of their jaws, prevents the palate from narrowing, and prevents issues like tongue thrusting, which can lead to crooked and misaligned teeth.
  
  
• Reduce or eliminate orthodontic treatment – Depending on how early you get treatment for your child with myofunctional therapy, training proper oral posture can help reduce their need for orthodontics in the future, or even eliminate the need for braces in some cases.
• Prevents speech impediments – Children with open mouth posture often develop speech impediments due to improper tongue placement and issues with their other facial muscles. Proper oral posture helps prevent this.

The Benefits Of Myofunctional Therapy For Open Mouth Posture

If your child has open mouth posture, it’s important to discuss their issue with their pediatrician. They may have anatomical issues or other health problems that are making it harder for them to breathe through their nose.

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But along with treatment from their doctor, children who breathe through their mouths can benefit from myofunctional therapy. This is a method of treating oral myofunctional disorders (OMDs) like open mouth posture with a mixture of training, education, and physical therapy exercises.

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When performed properly, myofunctional therapy leads to long-lasting oral posture improvement. With myofunctional therapy, your child can: 

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• Permanently correct their mouth breathing habits
• Enhance the overall strength of their tongue, lips, and facial muscles
• Ensure proper oral development
• Reduce the need for further orthodontic treatment
• Develop a more balanced facial structure
• Enjoy improved sleep quality
• Breathe more efficiently

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Myofunctional Therapy Techniques For Mouth Breathing

Every treatment plan for mouth breathing is a little bit different. Your child will meet with an expert at Inspira Advanced Dentistry regularly to perform exercises at our office, and you’ll need to do some exercises with them at home in between visits, too.

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Wondering what’s involved in pediatric myofunctional therapy for open mouth posture and mouth breathing? Here are some examples of the exercises that we may recommend as part of your child’s plan to improve their oral posture:

Tongue exercises

When the tongue is at rest, it should be touching the roof of the mouth. If your child has issues holding their tongue in this position, their specialist may recommend tongue strengthening exercises. For example, they may have your child hold their tongue up to the roof of their mouth, then slide it backward several times, or stick their tongue out as far as they can for 5-10 seconds.

Nasal breathing exercises

There are lots of different exercises that can be used to encourage nasal breathing. For example, your child’s therapist may have them blow up a balloon as much as they can while breathing through their nose. Over time, these exercises help your child get used to breathing through their nose at rest.

Lip sealing exercises

Children with open mouth posture may also have weak lips and have difficulties keeping their lips together for a long period of time, contributing to mouth breathing. There are lots of techniques that can be used to strengthen the lips. For example, your child’s therapist may have them hold a toothpick or another skinny, narrow object between their teeth for increasing periods of time.

Answering FAQs About Myofunctional Therapy 

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1. What age should children begin myofunctional therapy? It all depends on the specifics of their condition. Some children begin myofunctional therapy as early as 3-4 years of age.

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2. How long does myofunctional treatment typically take? The typical treatment time is 6-12 months for most kids. However, this depends on the specifics of your child, how serious their oral posture issues are, and how consistent you and your little one are with at-home treatment.
3. Are the results of myofunctional therapy permanent? Yes. As long as your child learns new oral habits and continues to do exercises at home as instructed by their specialist, the results are permanent.
4. Can myofunctional therapy help with speech issues? Yes. Whether your child’s speech issues are caused by mouth breathing or any other oral myofunctional disorder, myofunctional therapy can help.

Book Your Child’s First Visit With Inspira Advanced Dentistry

At Inspira Advanced Dentistry, we offer myofunctional therapy for patients of all ages in Campbell, CA. If your child is struggling with mouth breathing and open mouth posture, Dr. Loller and our specialists are here to help. Contact us online or give us a call at (408) 298-0777 to connect with our team and set up your child’s first visit to Inspira Advanced Dentistry.