Physical effects of “mouth breather face” for both adults and children, include: an elongated face. a receding chin. a gummy smile.
Researchers conclude that mouth breathing might lead to changes in the posture of the head and neck, and that chronic mouth breathing can result in an “adenoid face.” This type of facial structure involves a narrow upper dental arch, changes in incisors, an imperfect lip seal, and an increased facial height.
People who chronically breathe through their mouths may appear with their upper jaw protruding over the lower, a more prominent forehead, and a long, narrow face. In addition, the head may appear pushed forward relative to the shoulders.
The short answer: yes… but only if chronic mouth breathing is present at a young age. According to Dr. Hahn, if mouth breathing starts at an early age, it can affect the development of the upper jaw (maxilla) and palate, which translates to a narrower midface, nose, and more sunken appearance of the cheeks.
Breathing through your mouth may change your face shape as the jaw is constantly open, rather than closed as it naturally should be. Specifically, that mouth breathing may cause underdevelopment of the jaw in children who are consistent mouth breathers.
Children who breathe through the mouth are more likely to develop facial structures that are long, narrow, have less prominent jaws, and a retracted chin. This creates an undesirable facial profile that may create self-esteem issues in a child.
A solid routine will impact your facial structure
If you are a nose breather, the tongue creates a good definition of cheekbones and a wider face through force exerted against your jaw. Tongues of mouth breathers have nowhere to rest resulting in facial structure changes as time goes on.
Mouth breathing is surprisingly more common than you think. In a Sleep Review study, 61% of adults surveyed identified themselves as a mouth breather. That's an awful lot of adults struggling to get a breath through their nose.
Conclusion: All subjects with mouth-breathing habit exhibited a significant increase in lower incisor proclination, lip incompetency and convex facial profile. The presence of adenoids accentuated the facial convexity and mentolabial sulcus depth.
“Because the tongue is now on the floor of the mouth it then hinders the mid-face development so some children who chronic mouth breathers can end up with long narrower faces with less prominent jaws,” Raj adds.
You can too. The habit to breathe through your mouth is often developed in childhood when nasal breathing was never fully trained, a huge opportunity missed. It can be reversed as an adult but will take time and awareness.
You train yourself to breathe through your nose, instead of relying on mouth tape or nasal dilators to make this happen. For example, try taking deep breaths through your nose during the day to improve your nasal function and get used to breathing this way.
Nose breathing is healthier than mouth breathing because breathing through your nose helps filter out dust and other allergens while simultaneously boosting oxygen consumption. Conversely, with mouth breathing you can use up too much saliva, drying out your mouth.
Give yourself 3-6 months of doing this and see if your body does it on your own. Second, remember, if everyone around you knew what you know, more people would be taping their mouths closed.
Mouth breathing causes bad breath, poor sleep, early aging, gum disease, and high blood pressure in adults. According to Healthline, mouth breathing can lead to crooked teeth, facial deformities, or poor growth in children.
As an adult, the growth and development has already happened but it's not too late–there are MANY health benefits to breathing through your nose instead of your mouth at any age! Nasal breathing with a proper lip seal are two of the goals of myofunctional therapy.
In many cases, the best way to stop sleeping with the mouth open is to find and treat the cause. For example, humidifiers or nasal saline sprays may help reduce nasal congestion contributing to mouth breathing. Mouth breathing due to allergies, asthma, or sinus infection may improve after treatment of these conditions.
Common causes of mouth breathing include: Nasal blockages causes by cold, flu or allergies. Deviated septum or the cartilage divider between the nostrils is abnormal making it difficult to breath through the nose.
There is actually a name for this: “Adenoid Facies” or “Long Face Syndrome.” Faces lengthen, the jaw becomes less defined, teeth become crooked, and often kids and adults that chronically mouth breathe present with a “gummy smile” and dark circles under their eyes.
Our noses also process inhaled air differently than our mouths, and in ways that help keep us safe and healthy. Unfortunately, some of us begin unconsciously breathing through our mouths as we grow older, and that can lead to a host of health issues ranging from bad breath and dry mouth to asthma and sleep apnea.
One study proved that mouth breathing brings less oxygen to the brain compared to nasal breathing, which adversely affects brain function and gives rise to ADHD symptoms.