There could be a systemic problem that is causing abnormal levels and rates of bacteria buildup that oral hygiene alone can not keep up with. One common problem and theme I see amongst patients is mouth breathing. Do you sleep with your mouth open? Did you know sleeping with your mouth open was even a concern? When we sleep our mouth should be closed and we should be breathing through our nose. Breathing through our nose actually filters the air, humidifies the air, and warms the air we breathe. Why does this matter?
The saliva in our mouth bathes and cleanses the mouth, battling bacteria and maintaining the proper pH levels to prevent overgrowth. Breathing through our mouth brings in cold, dirty, and dry air. This unfiltered air the dries out our mouth.This creates a twofold effect, we are not only drying out the mouth but also allowing this dirty air to hit the back of the throat.
In the back of your throat sits the tonsils. As we sleep with our mouth open the air we breathe hits the back of the throat causing inflammation of the tonsils and in children the adenoids. This causes inflammation of the tonsillar tissue. Inflammation of the tonsils will cause them to increase in size closing off the airway. Now we have inflamed tonsils that are affecting our breathing even further exacerbating breathing problems by hyperventilation.
The tonsils are part of our immune system and help fight virus’ and bacteria. When they become chronically inflamed during mouth breathing it weakens our immune system, thus, overwhelming our lymphoid tissue. Without saliva fighting off bacteria and the lymphoid tissue fighting off bacteria you are left with an environment where the bacteria are able to colonize rapidly in a much higher volume.
As unpleasant as bad breath can be for all of us there are more insidious consequences of breathing through the mouth such as tooth decay, periodontal disease, breaking and wearing of teeth, and even tooth loss. So what causes mouth breathing you may ask? How can we fix this problem? Join me over on our next blog about mouth breathing.
Make an appointment with Atlanta Dentures
If you have an appointment scheduled with your dentist in Marietta and experience bad breath, you may want to ask about the harmful consequences of mouth breathing.
We do more than just dentures. Atlanta Dentures is your one-stop dental expert for any dental procedure. We are located near Atlanta in Marietta, Georgia. Book an appointment today! Soon we will launch our new brand Van Galder Advanced Dentistry.
