Planetsmiles MOUTH BREATHING BLOG
Effects of Mouthbreathing On dental Health An editorial in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine suggests that fast, shallow breathing can cause
All mouth breathing will lead to malocclusion.
Early correction of the mouth breathing will correct the bite without braces.
1.
fatigue,
2.
sleep disorders,
3.
anxiety,
4.
stomach upsets,
5.
heart burn,
6.
gas,
7.
muscle cramps,
8.
dizziness,
9.
visual problems,
10. chest pain and heart palpitations.
WE AIM FOR NASAL BREATHING
swallows, the muscles in the cheeks put too much pressure on the developing jaws causing them to narrow and collapse. When the tongue rests and functions in the palate, the teeth erupt around the tongue producing a normal or healthy arch form.
The body uses oxygen to provide energy for growth. It also needs carbon dioxide to maintain pH balance in the tissues. The carbondioxide is produced in the body and stored in the lungs.
It is not possible to breathe through the mouth and have the tongue in its correct position on the palate.
The Medullary Trigger in the brain responds to the amount of carbondioxide in the blood to produce our breathing pattern. With nasal breathing a child will usually takes a breath every 6 seconds, however if they breathe through their mouth this occurs every 3 seconds, losing too much carbondioxide. When too much carbon dioxide escapes from the lungs it affects the pH balance of the blood, causing smooth muscle spasm leading to airway and respiratory problems (such as asthma), sleep problems, digestive disorders and even bedwetting. All people who are habitual mouthbreathers have a malocclusion. This is because the tongue is not resting in its correct place on the palate. Consequently when the child
Chronic mouth breathing, leading to malocclusion.
mouth breathing can lead to: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.
Chronic mouth open posture. pursing the lips to swallow lower lip postured behind the upper front teeth, large overbite protruding teeth dry lips thumbsucking tongue thrusting crowding of teeth snoring or mouthbreathing during sleep grinding teeth during sleep recurrent infections of the throat and tonsils gingivitis bad breath increase in dental decay deviated septum long lower face height impairment of concentration behavioural disorders malfunction of the lungs and enlargement of the heart
Postural changes And mOUTH BREATHING Studies show that mouth breathers extend their head forward to enable them to breathe easily. As a result the back neck muscles shorten and the front neck muscles are stretched. This pulls the lower jaw down and causes neck pain. In addition, the shoulders usually roll forward and compress the vessels and nerves in the area causing pain and coldness in the arm and fingers. Scoliosis and other postural issues can be caused by a defective bite or have an impact on the developing bite and may need to be treated concurrently.with additional health professionals. In day to day living, we develop unhealthy positions which diminish lung capacity, a normal sedentary person tends to lean forward, draw his arms together and bend his head
down. The muscles in the arms, neck and chest contract, muscles that move the thorax and control inhalation and muscular tenseness clamp down and restrict exhalation. The breaths become shorter and shorter. We become fatigued from the decreased circulation of the blood and from the decreased availability of oxygen for the blood, because we have almost stopped breathing. As our duties, responsibilities and attendant problems become more demanding, we develop habits of forgetting to breathe. Scientists have known for a long time there exists a strong connection between respiration and mental states. Improper breathing produces diminished mental ability. Also mental tensions restrict breathing.
Benefits of Deep Breathing 1. Improvement in quality of the blood and elimination of toxins. 2. Increase digestion and assimilation of food. 3. Improvement in the health of the nervous system – brain, spinal cord and nerve centres. 4. Rejuvenation of the pituitary and pineal glands. The brain requires 3x more oxygen than the rest of the body. 5. Rejuvenation of the skin. 6. Movements of the diaphragm massage the stomach, small intestine, liver and pancreas and heart, stimulating blood circulation. 7. Healthy lungs and a stronger heart, reducing the work on the heart.
Science News Human Lung Stem Cell Discovered: Crucial Role in Tissue Regeneration ScienceDaily (May 12, 2011) — For the first time, researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have identified a human lung stem cell that is self-renewing and capable of forming and integrating multiple biological structures of the lung including bronchioles, alveoli and pulmonary vessels. This research is published in the May 12, 2011 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
The implications of being able to breathe
properly are that we can access regenerative capacities of the body previously thought not to exist.
Early correction of mouth breathing The earlier mouth breathing is corrected, the more successful and stable the treatment will be. Very early correction usually consists of myofunctional trainers. For many children, the trainer will be enough to correct the habit. Others may need more assistance in the form of active expansion and biofeedback breathing training to become used to normal oxygen levels. The myofunctional trainer is made in various sizes according to the stage of development. Treatment can begin as early as age two. The appliances are computer designed and made from soft medical grade silicone. Myofunctional trainers are the preferred early treatment appliance for many dentists and orthodontists. They work by retraining the oral muscles,correcting bad habits and correctly aligning the tongue. For the best results, it is worn 1 hour per day while awake and every night during sleep. Treatment time extends for at least one year and often longer.
In cases with more severe crowding, in a later stage of growth, or patient compliance, an active expansion appliance and/or braces may be used in conjunction with the trainers.
BIOFEEDBACK BREATHING PROGRAM What is biofeedback? Biofeedback is a technique that trains people to improve their health by controlling certain bodily processes that normally happen involuntarily, in our case breathing. Electrodes attached to your earlobe measure these processes and display them on a monitor. With training, you can learn to change your breathing rhythms to adjust to nasal breathing. At first you use the monitor to see your progress, but eventually you will be able to achieve success without the monitor or electrodes. We use HeartMath software, a leading-edge global company. The software uses Heart Rate Variability and Coherence measurements to learn how to intentionally stabilise breathing, shift the heart rhythm and shift to a positive emotional state to create a favourable cascade of neural, biochemical and hormonal events that benefit the entire body and mind.
The program is being used globally by medical professionals, cardiologists, in treatment for ADHD, in schools with children of all ages from age 3 to adults in large companies such as Cathay Pacific, accounting firms, the Australian Army and the Federal Police Force. Breathing patterns modulate the heart’s rhythm. This makes it possible to generate a coherent heart rhythm (the heart is in sync with the brain and the nervous system) by simply breathing slowly and regularly. Rhythmic breathing is only possible with nose breathing due to pH regulations in the body. The relationship between breathing patterns and emotional state is so strong that the primary focus is not on breathing. The emotional shift is key to developing rhythmic breathing. Positive emotions appear to excite the system at its natural resonant frequency and enable the rhythmic breathing to emerge and be maintained naturally, in sync with the persons natural heart rhythms without any conscious mental focus on the breathing.
Various games and levels test your ability to focus coherent breathing to get to the next level. Classes for up to 4 people at a time are run Monday to Thursday in our rooms lasting 30-40minutes. Ideally, twice per week for 4-5 weeks.
Research has shown dramatic improvements in the following: Motivation Focus Energy School attitudes Self reliance The Program has a breathing pacer which is adjusted to pace breathing according to what is comfortable. A colourful indicator shows what level of coherence you are currently breathing at - Red no coherence - Blue moderate coherence - Green High Coherence
Breathing practice also helps you self-regulate your autonomic nervous system which controls 90% of your body’s involuntary functions, including immune system response, hormonal response, metabolic response, digestion, elimination and more. The autonomic nervous system has two branches. One branch is the sympathetic branch that speeds things up. It is activated when you are stimulated or aroused and speeds up heart rate. The other is the parasympathetic branch, which slows things down. It is activated as you relax and slows heart rate. The activity in your autonomic nervous system tells the body’s organs and glands how to respond. Your sympathetic nervous system gets activated when you are under stress to prepare your body to react to threats, real or imagined. Chronic stress, frustration, anxiety, depression are associated with an overactive sympathetic nervous system. The chronic activation of the sympathetic nervous system due to negative emotional states depletes your energy reserves and increases the risk of stress-related health problems. It is also implicated in stress hormone related weight gain and obesity. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a measure of the naturally occurring beat-to-beat changes in heart rate, provides an indicator of heart-brain interactions and autonomic nervous system function. HRV is also highly reflective of stress and emotions and is used to assess peoples overall vitality. Emotions especially trigger changes in the autonomic nervous system and the hormonal system. Changes in the pattern of your heart rate (or heart rhythm) are most reflective of your current emotional state. Changes in heart rhythm pattern are independent of heart rate. You can have a coherent or incoherent pattern at high or low heart
rates as this graph shows. The frustration graph is typical of of negative or stressful feelings such as anxiety, worry, frustration or anger. The jagged and irregular rhythm reflects disorder and disharmony in the autoonomic nervous system, as if the sympathetic branches and the parasympathetic branches are fighting with each other. This taxes the nervous system and organs, impeding the synchronization and flow of information throughout the body. The bottom graph shows the smooth and ordered heart rhythm pattern (coherence) that is typically observed when an individual is experiencing sincere positive emotions such as love, appreciation or compassion. The smooth coherent rhythm reflects an ordered synchronization between the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system.
Overtime if your autonomic nervous system stays disordered you can experience ongoing stress symptoms like digestive and metabolic problems, hormonal and immune system
imbalances heart problems or the onset of chronic diseases like high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes and obesity.
inhibition. With the t4k the Heart Rate variability is harmonious, indicating cortical facilitation.
Comparison of results for patient with no myofunctional trainer on the left and myofunctional trainer in on the right.:
On the left there is much less coherence 42% green compared with 97% with the t4k in. Top graph indicates the Heart Rate Variability – which is less rhythmical and smooth on the left indicating a level of cortical
The lower left graph shows a spectral analysis of the Heart rate variability. Without the t4k there is more sympathetic nervous system activity (very low frequency band is high) compared with balanced autonomic nervous system (the very low frequency band is low and the low frequency band reflects balanced sympathetic and parasympathetic and baroreceptor activities.
There is growing acceptance within the broad medical community that Heart Rate Variability amplitude is a key indicator of the health status. Even when in the state of rest or semi-activity, the autonomic nervous system takes its cue from the breathing frequency. Breathing at a relatively rapid pace, even while seated and otherwise relaxed, results in an autonomic shift toward sympathetic emphasis, which is the flight or fight response. The degree of emphasis varies directly with the rate of breathing. Sympathetic emphasis is characterised by relatively faster average heartbeat rate, reduced heart rate variability, reduced coherence as well as other changes. There is an emerging understanding within the medical community that sympathetic dominance underlies many modern day maladies including anxiety and hypertension. What is not understood is the root cause of sympathetic dominance. Coherence theory asserts that the root cause of sympathetic dominance is in fact suboptimal breathing.
This graph indicates that maximal amplitude and coherence result when heart rate variability and breathing rhythms are synchronised. This synchrony both results in and is a result of balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic functions as well as harmony between autonomic and somatic branches of the central nervous system. The autonomic nervous system consists of the sympathetic division responsible for activating functions and the parasympathetic division responsible for deactivating functions.