Mouth Breathing Can Cause Major Health Problems

Everyone knows somebody who mouth-breathes due to nasal obstruction... What many may not realize is that chronic mouth-breathing can lead to health problems whether in an adult or child.

Especially in children, over time, whose mouth breathing goes untreated may suffer from abnormal facial and dental development, such as long, narrow faces and mouths, gummy smiles, gingivitis and crooked teeth. The poor sleeping habits that result from mouth breathing can adversely affect growth and academic performance. Many of these children are misdiagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD) and hyperactivity. In addition, mouth breathing can cause poor oxygen concentration in the bloodstream, which can cause high blood pressure, heart problems, sleep apnea and other medical issues.

These issues were brought up in a recent article in the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of General Dentistry.

What can cause nasal obstruction leading to mouth-breathing?

Allergies
Turbinate Hypertrophy
Adenoid Hypertrophy
Nasal Polyps
Deviated Septum

Read more about nasal obstruction here.

New Webpage on Lump in the Throat Sensation (Part 2)

A new webpage has been posted describing what may be causing a lump or foreign body sensation in the throat (globus pharyngeus). As many of our readers may already be aware, we already have a webpage on this subject. However, we have gone into further detail depending on where exactly the lump sensation is located.

The new webpage is specifically geared towards abnormal throat sensation between the voicebox and chin. Symptoms in this location is most often due to problems in the base of tongue region, especially the lingual tonsils.

The old webpage was specifically pertinent for lump sensations between the sternum and the voicebox. Symptoms in this location is most often due to stress or reflux (LPR).

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Some over-the-counter medications used to treat relux are listed below:

Base of Tongue Coblation for Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Fauquier ENT is offering a relatively new procedure called base of tongue reduction (as well as lingual tonsillectomy) using coblation for patients suffering from severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) due to an enlarged base of tongue. For many patients, an enlarged base of tongue is a significant contributing factor leading to severe sleep apnea. This area contributes to obstruction by falling backwards against the back wall of the throat during sleep leading to airway closure.

Although a number of procedures have been offered to minimize this problem in the past such as:

• hyoid advancement
• genioglossal advancement
• repose procedure
• mandibular advancement

None of these procedures directly addresses the tongue bulk/size itself. Rather, these procedures indirectly attempts to address the base of tongue by moving and anchoring the entire tongue forward. As such, these procedures only marginally improves OSA and usually only lasts for a temporary period of time.

Other traditional OSA surgeries such as:

• tonsillectomy
• adenoidectomy
• UPPP (uvulo-palato-pharyngoplasty)
• septoplasty
• turbinate reduction

These address obstructions only at the nasal and oral cavity level of the airway. Base of tongue is BELOW these levels and located immediately above the voicebox (where air enters the windpipe to get to your lungs). As such, many patients who have undergone these surgeries often find themselves still suffering from OSA. Furthermore, enlarged base of tongue is the main cause of OSA in skinny people.

Click here to read more about base of tongue reduction/lingual tonsillectomy offered only at Fauquier ENT of Northern Virginia.

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Non-surgical methods to resolve obstructive sleep apnea due to large base of tongue: