People often breathe from their mouth instead of their noses unintentionally. The way you breathe affects your oral health and it can pose serious problems and should not be taken lightly. Mouth breathing can affect facial development in kids and creates various dental concerns in adults.

The habit of breathing through your mouth instead of your nose negatively affects your oral and dental health. Mouth breathers don’t often realize they are doing this habit which makes it more dangerous as symptoms gets worse and eventually become severe dental issues. Breathing through the mouth instead of your nose usually happens because of chronic nasal obstruction. This means that you don’t get a sufficient amount of oxygen when you breathe through your nose which makes your body resort to taking oxygen in through your mouth. The effect on your dental health might be hard to imagine but breathing through your mouth dries up your mouth instantly. It depletes the proper production of saliva and this causes your mouth to become acidic. Saliva plays a big role in keeping the acid level in your mouth at a minimum. It washes away bacteria and food particles. Without saliva, bacteria would multiply as it prefers acidic environment and increases the risk of plaque formation and tooth decay.

Here are a few symptoms and concerns that are caused by not breathing properly through your nose.

Snoring. People don’t realize that they are snoring when they sleep and this is an indicator that they have chronic nasal obstruction. Those who suffer an obstruction on their air ways often sleep with an open mouth.

Gum disease. This oral health problem in its severe state can cause other health problems like heart diseases and lung infections. People who suffer from dry mouth are at a high risk of gum infection. The condition comes along with red swollen gums and bleeding gums.

Chronic bad breath. There are many causes of bad breath but one of the most common is mouth breathing. It also has something to do with the lack of saliva. Bacteria multiply in an acidic environment and as they increase in numbers so does their acid by product that stinks up the oral cavity.

Tooth decay. Plaque formation is a big concern especially when breathing through your mouth gives the bacteria all the benefits. Your teeth are in constant attack and the protective layer of the tooth called the enamel is damaged slowly. This leads to tooth decay and in severe cases can result to tooth loss.

It is important to act upon this habit as early as possible. This is not only to save the health of your teeth and gums but to avoid other health problems that improper breathing can cause the body. The regular visit to your emergency dentist San Jose CA is one way of getting diagnosed earlier. Your dentist will be able to give suggestions and breathing techniques to make sure that you can breathe properly through your nose. Just because mouth breathing is your norm doesn’t mean that it’s healthy.