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Improper Tongue Habits and Breathing

Improper Tongue Habits and Breathing practices in children can lead to improper oral and facial development. Such habits often include mouth breathing, tongue thrusting, and digit sucking. If you notice your child often breathing from the mouth or having bad tongue habits, you should reach out to us at Yanagi Dental for an assessment. We specialize in correcting oral habits and treating problems through habit correction and addressing the root cause.

Need for Early Intervention

Poor breathing habits and improper tongue position can cause various oral problems. The tongue should ideally be at the roof of the mouth when relaxing or breathing. This allows the airway to stay open, enabling breathing. It will also make it easier to swallow.

The tongue’s proper position and proper breathing habits are important for effective jaw development. This will allow the teeth to erupt properly while preventing crowding.

Improper Tongue Habits

Yanagi Dental PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY in Irvine, CA is dedicated to maintaining healthy oral health for your child through the correction of improper tongue habits. Tongue thrusting is an oral habit that can be damaging to your child’s teeth.

Tongue thrusting is the habit of pushing the tongue forward between the lower and upper teeth when swallowing. Normal functioning requires the tongue to push against the gum behind the upper, front teeth. Usually, tongue thrusting begins during the infant years and most children will stop the habit by age six.

Most often kids engaging in tongue thrusting also have the habit of thumb-sucking or mouth breathing. Children often engage in tongue thrusting when their tongue protrudes between their teeth when:

  • They are speaking
  • They are in relaxing
  • They swallow something

Impact of Tongue Thrusting

The tongue is capable of causing misalignment during your child’s dental growth and development. If Improper Tongue Habits and Breathing in Irvine, CA is not addressed in time, open bites, overbites, teeth spacing, and protruding teeth can occur. Our Dentist in Irvine, CA can help address the problem in time to prevent additional issues from developing.

The habit of improper breathing is often accompanied by other problems. These include:

  • Jaw alignment problems
  • A thumb-sucking habit
  • An airway problem
  • Tethered tongue or limited lingual frenum
As parents, you will know more about your child’s Improper Tongue Habits and Breathing. If you notice these habits, you should monitor and report them to us. Some of the points to be monitored include:
  • How often your child does it?
  • Do they show any other signs of allergies such as redness and itching?
  • Do they visibly sniffle?
  • Did they have airway issues in the past?
  • Do they engage in mouth breathing when resting or during an activity?
At Yanagi Dental, we have been providing a wide range of dental care solutions and services to our patients throughout Irvine, CA for over 15 years. This includes PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY in Irvine, CA. Dr. Yanagi focuses on developing a custom treatment plan for each individual patient. If your child has Improper Tongue Habits and Breathing in Irvine, CA, we will create a custom treatment and correction plan for them after taking all the involved factors into account.