Breathing

It’s not just for yoga.

You can hear it now. Breathe in through your nose, hold and exhale through your mouth.

You are transported to a yoga class of long ago, when we could all gather and exhale in front of each other. 

Now, transport yourself to a dental chair and hear me saying the same words to you. WHAT?  I know, you have probably never had a dentist talk to you about your breathing other than trying to keep you from hyperventilating. Then again, you have clearly never been in my dental chair! 

I talk about breathing all of the time! Breathing is the most fundamental function of our body, and yes, our mouth assists in breathing. It also bears the brunt of improper breathing. The natural and “correct” position for your mouth to rest in is: lip together, teeth apart with your tongue on the roof of your mouth. If these actions aren’t all happening in sync, then something is out of whack and you are likely breathing through your mouth. You may ask, what is wrong with mouth breathing?  I can tell you what is wrong with mouth breathing, but I will also tell you why breathing through your nose is so important.

The nose knows!  The more that you breathe through your nose, the better your nose works. Sounds silly, but it is the profound truth. As you inhale through your nose, it releases gases (nitrous oxide) to be exact, which acts as a vasodilator and opens your nose up more. Your nose is perfectly engineered to clean (think nose hairs) and moisturize your air. The air that you get from your nose is BETTER and reaches your brain more effectively than if you mouth breathing. I hear a lot, “but I can’t breathe through my nose.”  Sure you can!  Breathe all the way out (no really, do it), hold your breathe until you feel like you might fall over, and then ONLY breathe in through your nose. KEEP THAT MOUTH SHUT!  And repeat. It doesn’t fail. The nose knows.

Ok, so now that we’ve reaffirmed your nose is important and does all sorts of important stuff, let’s talk about why it’s BAD to breathe through your mouth. If your mouth is open, your tongue is not on the roof of your mouth where it should be in your resting position. If your tongue isn’t on the roof of your mouth, then your tongue is sitting in your airway, i.e. your throat. It is taking up space that is valuable for air!  The quickest way to get a necklift is to make sure your tongue is in the right spot!  Also, for children who are mouth breathers, their tongue not being in this correct position can result in their top jaw (maxilla) not growing properly. Your tongue is a super strong muscle and actually promotes proper growth. To take you down the rabbit hole a little, your tongue promotes your top jaw to grow, and your top jaw dictates how much your bottom jaw can grow. SO, and improperly placed tongue as a kid can actually cause your ENTIRE mouth to not grow enough. 

An open mouth is a dry mouth. There have been recent studies showing that mouth breathing changes the bacteria in your mouth to be more aggressive. It will cause more aggressive gum disease and worse cavities. Nobody wants either of those, just like nobody wants a stinky foot to the face in yoga class.

Now you know. Take a deep breath. Let Magnolia Dentistry on Market help you breathe easy knowing your oral health is yogi master level.

Namaste!