People don't expect to hear me talk about breathing when they come to hear about crooked teeth. But did you know that many children who breathe through their mouths have crooked teeth. Why?
For air to pass through the mouth, the tongue must lie low in the mouth. That means it's not on the roof of the mouth where it should be to stimulate the growth of the upper jaw and guide the erupting teeth. Low tongue : narrow jaw : crowded teeth. Simple.
Here's the health part: air breathed through the nose is healthier than air breathed through the mouth. Same air, you say? Not nearly. Through the nose air is filtered, warmed, moistened, and ionized. Through the mouth it is raw, filled with dust, pollen, allergens, and all the same gunk you pull off your air-conditioning filters at home. All that stuff lodges on the back of your throat where it triggers allergies, asthma, swollen tonsils and adenoids, and more.
What's more is that the concentration of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the lungs and in the blood is different for nose breathers and mouth breathers. Oxygen in not as easily transfered from the blood to the tissues in mouth breathers. Poor circulation and nutrition to the cells can lead to all kinds of problems (a topic for another day).
So, close your mouth, put your tongue on the palate and breathe through your nose and you'll be on your way to better health AND straighter teeth. (P.S. The younger your are, the better this works...)
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