• Mouth breathing can lead to dental issues, including gingivitis and cavity development.
• As many as 60% of adults breathe through their mouth.
• Procedures such as a balloon sinuplasty or endoscopy can help a patient to breathe better through their nose.
Mouth breathing and sinusitis, according to Dr. Manish Khanna of Capitol Breathe Free Sinus & Allergy Centers, can lead to other health issues and affect your quality of life.
“By not using our nasal passages, we just start to mouth-breathe, because we can’t or don’t know how to use our noses,” Khanna told Maryland State Wire. “Because it’s stuffed all the time, it’s inflamed all the time, it’s not a good environment for our oral health. Things tend to dry up more, get a lot of dryness in our throat area, the saliva dries up quicker, and that can lead to more issues with dental caries and problems in the oral cavity as well. This can sometimes affect the sense of taste, because of that dryness from all the mouth breathing that we’re doing.”
Healthline reported that mouth breathing can dry out the month, leading to an environment ripe for the formation of gingivitis and cavity development.
According to KTM Yoga, people should be breathing through their noses most of the time, but reportedly up to 60% of adults frequently breathe through their mouths. The hair and mucus in the nose serves as a filter to trap bacteria and dust, and nasal breathing also boosts the intake of oxygen and brain activity. The benefits of breathing through the nose include regulating airflow, which widens blood vessels and slows the heart rate, resulting in a feeling of calm.
People who suffer from chronic sinus issues or allergies frequently breathe through their mouths, which can lead to oral problems, according to McCarl Dental Group. By breathing this way, people end up drying their saliva, setting the foundation for the growth of bacteria and plaque on teeth. This can lead to gum disease, cavities and chronic bad breath. Breathing through the mouth on a regular basis over extended periods of time also can lead to snoring, sleep apnea, enlarged tonsils, strained jaw joints and an increased susceptibility to airway issues, such as asthma.
WebMD reported that people who battle chronic sinusitis have treatment options, including balloon sinuplasty and endoscopy. During an endoscopy procedure, doctors insert thin, flexible instruments called endoscopes into the nasal passages and view the cavity on a screen, providing a view of obstructions and using instruments to remove blockages, including scar tissue and polyps. While the procedure requires a local anesthetic, there are no incisions and the recovery period is relatively quick.
A newer treatment option is balloon sinuplasty, during which a doctor inserts a tube with a small balloon into the nasal passages and guides it to the blocked area. It is then inflated to clear the passage, allowing the sinuses to drain and reducing congestion.
To learn more about the symptoms of sinusitis and allergies, take this Sinus Self-Assessment Quiz.
