WHAT ARE OMD'S???

Day or night mouth breathing is an abnormal breathing pattern that can be caused by chronic seasonal allergies, enlarged tonsils or adenoids, or a deviated septum.   This encourages atypical muscular patterns that impact chewing and swallowing, facial growth and development, dental eruption and alignment, as well as affecting the social aspects of mouth breathing.

 A person swallowing incorrectly will often purse and tighten the muscles of the cheeks, chin and lips – a symptom known as a facial grimace. This can give the chin a knobby appearance because these muscles are being overused. Because these muscles are not being used properly, air is being swallowed in addition to food, causing reflux, excessive burping, and indigestion.  

Dysfunctional chewing and swallowing habits can chronically affect the muscles of the face and jaw.  People can develop TMJ issues or chronic facial pain linked to this overuse of masticatory muscles.  This can be seen in an inability to chew properly on both sides of mouth. 

 Mouth breathers tend to carry their heads forward to compensate for airway restriction. This poor posture leads to neck pain, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) tension, spinal disc compression, early arthritis, tension headaches, and dental occlusal (bite) problems. 

Tongue thrust, tie, or limited range of tongue movement:  when the tongue develops a different resting position within the mouth . The continued presence of these atypical tongue positions, swallowing patterns, and movements can often result in a variety of issues and challenges, most notably being the improper development of jaw growth and facial structure , as well as movement of the dentition. 

 Detrimental oral habits that impede proper growth and development, such as thumb sucking, nervous chewing of other digits or objects, or nail biting, to name just a few.  These can lead to improper development of facial structure as well as  the misalignment of teeth.  

Sleep disordered breathing, or nighttime mouth breathing, can influence all aspects of nighttime habits, like snoring, obstructive sleep apnea, clenching/grinding, insomnia, and/or anxiety/depression.  It has even been linked to ADHD/ADD behavioral issues.