How are Crooked Teeth and Sleep Apnea Related?

This past weekend, I was lucky enough to attend 20th Anniversary LVI Gala / 2015 IAPA Conference in fabulous Las Vegas. While many of the world-renowned speakers discussed their advancements in clinical medicine, new approaches to physiological dentistry, and general advice for managing your team, Mr. Patrick McKeown spoke about the benefits of nasal breathing.

There are many causes for overbite, crooked teeth, and crowded teeth. McKeown mentioned one of them to be mouth-breathing, a direct cause of oral disfigurement. Reason being, the tongue puts an immense amount of pressure on the teeth when air is inhaled and exhaled from the oral cavity. This pressure moves teeth. When mouth-breathing becomes a habit during the day, it also leads to mouth breathing at night: this is a known cause of snoring and sleep apnea.

It is estimated that about 80% of Americans suffer from sleep apnea, meaning that four out of every five people do not enter regenerative sleep (the sleep that heals you) during the night. Most of us are constantly waking up from lack of oxygen. We learned from Mr. Mceown that the best way to avoid this is to train yourself to breathe through your nose during the day, and the behavior will continue at night. This is especially important for children, as mouth breathing will only continue to have a negative impact on the development of their teeth, facial bone structure, mental and physical health.

Luckily, we learned a simple technique to help us switch from mouth-breathers to nose-breathers, and you can try it yourself! Begin by breathing slowly, in and out through the nose, allowing about ten seconds to complete one breath. Feel the breath well up in the nostrils, and try not to let your breathing make any sound whatsoever as it passes in and out of your nose. You should feel starved for oxygen, and that is OK; the process actually increases blood flow to your extremities, and increases the amount of oxygen in your blood cells.

Over-breathing is a big culprit when it comes to overall well-being, and a big trigger for sleep apnea. If you think you suffer from sleep apnea, please consider the benefits of a sleep monitoring test. Give our office a call today and schedule your consultation at 781 330 0900.

Dream Smile Dental proudly serves patients in the Canton, Milton, Stoughton, Sharon, and Dedham area. If you have any questions or dental concerns, please do not hesitate to call our office at 781 330 0900, or visit us at 2184 Washington St., Canton.