The Hidden Harm of Mouth Breathing And How to Heal It the Shamanic and Scientific Way

In the modern world, where stress, allergies, pollution, and processed foods assault the body daily, one subtle yet devastating habit has crept in unnoticed: mouth breathing. Once rare in ancient, nose-breathing cultures, mouth breathing is now an epidemic, affecting children and adults alike, and slowly disrupting everything from dental health to posture, sleep, and even emotional regulation.

But what if we told you this habit isn’t just unhealthy, it’s reversible? This article explores the damaging effects of chronic mouth breathing, and offers a complete roadmap of both ancient and modern treatments to reclaim your breath, your smile, and your vitality.

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What Is Mouth Breathing?

Mouth breathing occurs when the mouth becomes the default route for inhalation and exhalation instead of the nose. While necessary during intense physical exertion or nasal congestion, chronic mouth breathing during rest and sleep is a sign of dysfunction.

The nose is not just a passive passageway for air, it is a sophisticated filtering, humidifying, warming, and nitric oxide-producing system that plays a critical role in immunity, craniofacial development, and nervous system balance.

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The Damaging Effects of Mouth Breathing

Mouth breathing has a cascade of detrimental effects on multiple systems of the body:

1. Oral and Dental Health

• Dry mouth reduces protective saliva, leading to tooth decay, gum disease, bad breath, and oral infections.

• The tongue sits low in the mouth, contributing to misaligned teeth, narrow palates, and malocclusions.

• Altered oral pH and microbiome imbalances.

2. Craniofacial Development

• In children, mouth breathing leads to long, narrow faces, recessed chins, underdeveloped jaws, and crowded teeth, all hallmarks of “soft food culture.”

• These changes can impair the airway itself, leading to obstructive sleep apnea.

📖 Harvold et al. (1981) demonstrated that monkeys forced to mouth-breathe developed abnormal craniofacial growth patterns, confirming that nasal breathing is crucial for normal facial development.

3. Respiratory Health

• Mouth breathers bypass the natural filtration of the nose, inhaling more allergens, dust, and pathogens.

• They lose the immunity-enhancing nitric oxide produced in the sinuses, essential for lung function and blood oxygenation.

• Increased incidence of asthma, sinusitis, and upper respiratory tract infections.

4. Sleep Disorders and Mental Health

• Mouth breathing during sleep causes snoring, sleep apnea, and poor oxygenation, leading to fatigue, anxiety, and poor concentration.

• It disrupts deep REM sleep, vital for brain detoxification and memory.

🧠 A study published in JAMA Pediatrics (2012) found that children with sleep-disordered breathing had a 40–100% increased risk of behavioral disorders like ADHD.

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How Did We Get Here?

From a Dental Shaman perspective, this epidemic has spiritual, structural, and societal roots:

• Processed foods weaken jaw development.

• Trauma and fear dysregulate breathing and tighten oral musculature.

• Environmental toxins and allergens inflame nasal tissues.

• Disconnection from breath as a sacred anchor of life.

Our ancestors chewed tough foods, moved naturally, and breathed through strong, open nasal passages. In just a few generations, we’ve lost this foundational pattern, but we can remember it again.

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The Path to Healing: Treatment Modalities That Restore Sacred Breathing

Reclaiming nasal breathing is a multi-dimensional journey. Here’s a comprehensive overview of research-backed and ancestral methods for treating chronic mouth breathing.

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1. Mouth Taping (During Sleep)

A simple yet powerful method to train the body to breathe through the nose at night. A small piece of micropore or MyoTape on the lips encourages the brain to reactivate nasal pathways.

• Enhances deep sleep, oxygen saturation, and nitric oxide levels.

• Reduces snoring and sleep apnea.

• Improves dental hydration.

💤 A 2022 Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine pilot study found that mouth taping significantly reduced snoring and improved sleep quality in mouth-breathing adults.

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2. The Buteyko Method

Developed by Ukrainian physician Dr. Konstantin Buteyko, this breath-retraining therapy reduces hyperventilation and encourages light, slow, nasal breathing.

Core techniques include:

• Controlled breath holds (Control Pause test).

• Nasal clearing and CO₂ tolerance building.

• Emotional regulation through breath.

🔬 A 2008 Thorax journal meta-analysis confirmed Buteyko’s effectiveness in reducing asthma symptoms and medication use.

The Buteyko method is especially valuable in children and can be combined with myofunctional therapy.

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3. Myofunctional Therapy

Think of this as “physical therapy for your face and tongue.” Myofunctional therapy retrains the tongue to rest on the palate, strengthens oral muscles, and improves swallowing and nasal breathing patterns.

Key benefits:

• Encourages proper tongue posture.

• Prevents or reverses orthodontic relapse.

• Supports speech, sleep, and facial development.

👶 Gomes et al. (2014) showed that children with sleep-disordered breathing significantly improved after just 12 weeks of orofacial myofunctional therapy.

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4. ENT Evaluation and Functional Breathing Surgery

Sometimes structural obstructions in the nose or throat must be addressed surgically:

• Adenoid or tonsil hypertrophy.

• Deviated septum.

• Nasal valve collapse.

Consultation with a skilled ENT can reveal hidden causes of persistent mouth breathing.

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5. Orthopaedic Orthodontics and Craniofacial Expansion

Functional jaw development appliances such as:

• ALF (Advanced Lightwire Functionals).

• MSE (Maxillary Skeletal Expander).

• Myobrace or DNA Appliance.

These devices stimulate natural bone growth, widen the palate, and open the airway, especially powerful when used in children before age 12.

🦷 Singh et al. (2016) demonstrated that adults using nighttime expansion appliances showed measurable increases in airway volume and nasal patency.

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6. Salt Therapy: Halotherapy & Salt Pipes

Breathing in fine salt particles (via salt caves or salt pipes) helps:

• Cleanse inflamed nasal passages.

• Kill bacteria and fungi.

• Restore mucociliary function in sensitive lung tissues.

🌬️ Chervinskaya & Zilber (1995) found that halotherapy significantly improved respiratory function in children with chronic bronchitis.

Salt therapy is gentle, shamanic, and safe for children and also deeply calming.

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The Dental Shaman Perspective: Breath as Medicine

From a spiritual standpoint, the breath is more than a function, it is a sacred bridge between body, mind, and spirit. Chronic mouth breathing disconnects us from that bridge. It severs the rhythm of life.

When we reclaim nasal breathing, we:

• Rewire the nervous system.

• Deepen our spiritual presence.

• Empower the immune and endocrine systems.

• Open the heart.

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Final Thoughts: Returning to the Breath of the Ancients

Healing mouth breathing isn’t just about teeth, sleep, or posture. It is a journey back to our primal breath, our original design, and our connection to the Earth.

Whether through mouth taping, Buteyko, myofunctional therapy, cranial expansion, salt caves, or shamanic breathwork, each step is a return to balance. One breath at a time, we become who we were always meant to be: radiant, grounded, and whole.

I have created so many helpful videos for YOU, on his YouTube channel www.youtube.com/@dentistmarcmortiboys

Subscribe for receiving notifications of his upcoming dental & life transforming material and like/share/engage to help spread the love x

On Up and In

Marc

Smile Healthy

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References

1. Harvold EP et al. “Primate experiments on oral respiration.” American Journal of Orthodontics (1981).

2. Bonuck K et al. “Sleep-disordered breathing in early childhood and neurobehavioral outcomes.” JAMA Pediatrics (2012).

3. Chervinskaya AV, Zilber NA. “Halotherapy for treatment of respiratory diseases.” Journal of Aerosol Medicine (1995).

4. Bruton A et al. “Buteyko breathing technique for asthma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” Thorax (2008).

5. Singh GD et al. “Changes in 3D nasal airway space after maxillary expansion.” Journal of Craniomandibular Practice (2016).

6. Gomes CF et al. “Orofacial myofunctional therapy in children with obstructive sleep apnea.” International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology (2014).

7. Okuro RT et al. “Effects of oronasal breathing on facial skeletal development.” Brazilian Journal of Otorhinolaryngology (2011).