Why nasal breathing is so important for children

Genes play a decisive role in many diseases and maldevelopments, but are not solely responsible for the healthy development of children.

In order for children to be able to eat, speak or sing later on, the mouth must be able to develop in the way it is intended to.

If abnormalities suddenly occur, such as frequent tonsillitis, speech impediments or malocclusions of the teeth, it is seldom the genes that are responsible, but above all unhealthy habits. Habits, responsible.

Instead of the causes, however, only the symptoms are usually treated in today’s health care system. Thus children with tooth misalignments receive naturally a tooth brace, because which is crooked, is to be straightened again.

In addition to misaligned teeth and jaws, unhealthy habits also lead to tonsillitis, speech impediments and tooth decay, so it often takes many hours in speech therapy, tonsil surgery and the less pleasant visit to the dentist.

Anyone who has experienced the correction of a dysfunction knows how time-consuming, lengthy and stressful this can be. It would therefore be much more sustainable to recognize the first signs as early as possible, in order to promote the healthy development of the mouth.

The origin and consequences of unhealthy habits

Everyone knows it – with a cold, when the nose is blocked, breathing through the nose is difficult or even impossible. Fortunately, we still have the mouth, you might think, but this is exactly where the problem lies.

Children get used to breathing through their mouths very quickly, so that in many cases, even after the long wave of colds, permanent mouth breathing persists and the nose is only a secondary player.

As a result, the mouth is rarely closed and viruses and bacteria enter the throat unhindered. As a result, it is not uncommon for inflammation of the palatine tonsils to occur, which trap the pathogens, swell and thus work FOR us.

A tonsillectomy should therefore be considered critically and well-considered, because even after a partial removal of the tonsils, inflammation sometimes occurs again – if the cause has not been removed.

Concentration and sleep problems are also common among mouth breathers. When air passes through the nose, some of it is converted into nitric oxide by the body in the sinuses.

This provides for a clearly higher oxygen saturation of the blood and thus also to a better oxygen supply of the brain. Breathing through the mouth, on the other hand, does not produce enough of this gas.

But that is not all! When the mouth is closed, the tongue automatically rests against the palate, shaping the upper jaw so that it has grown wide enough for the large adult dentition.

When breathing through the mouth, the tongue is “down” (try it out for yourself, where the tongue automatically lies) and thus cannot form the palate in the long run.

With a very narrow palate, the teeth usually have no room to stand straight in line, so that jaw and tooth misalignments can then occur.

Data from the Frankfurt Dental Clinic make the relevance of unhealthy habits even clearer, because only just under 20% of all jaw malocclusions are hereditary.

An open mouth also leads to a change in the PH of the saliva (acidic), which favors both the erosion of the teeth and the occurrence of caries.

And as if all this were not enough, mouth breathers usually have an increased flow of saliva or, conversely, a dry mouth and dry, chapped lips.

All of the above problems related to the unhealthy habit of open mouth posture, but there are other unhealthy habits as well.

For example, if children suck their thumbs or pacifiers too much, if they permanently press their lips together too much, or if they develop an incorrect swallowing pattern.

Avoiding and counteracting unhealthy habits

Sometimes these abnormalities are noticed, sometimes not, or they are underestimated. Going to therapy also seems to be a bigger hurdle.

Yet the first step, noticing and looking more closely, is so important. In order for parents to be able to recognize unhealthy habits and undesirable developments in their children themselves and, if necessary, to contact specialists, they first need to be educated.

The earlier an undesirable development is counteracted, the faster and greater the successes will be – and no, not everything grows out of it.

We would like therefore preventively, thus EARLY Get parents on board so that unhealthy habits don’t happen in the first place and children go through a marathon of doctor to doctor and therapist.

For this, however, parents need to know WHAT is healthy and WHAT is NOT, and at what point they should take a closer look or consult an expert.

To enable as many parents as possible to get to grips with this topic, LogoLeon Gmbh is developing interactive products for children and parents – on the subject of MOUTH.

The ideal first introduction to the world of the mouth is the LogoLeon® activity book for children from the age of 3.

Leon, the chameleon, takes the children on his journey through the jungle in three spa stories (68 pages), first catches a cold and then even falls over his own tongue in the jungle kindergarten.

Leon and his friends encourage children to explore their own mouths on the hands-on pages and thus offer a great experience.

A special feature of the book, in addition to the colorful, large pictures, are the coloring pages and glue dots from Dot On®.

The fine motor skills of the mouth are still closely coupled with the fine motor skills of the hands at kindergarten age and can thus be encouraged in a playful manner.

The LogoLeon® app makes it possible for the first time to play and learn interactively with your mouth. Embedded in a jungle background, the child sees himself in the smartphone or tablet.

Through the movements of the mouth, the child controls the games and thus gets to know his mouth in a completely new way – by ACTIVE participates!

This so-called “Augmented Reality Mirror“According to media-psychological studies, it is the most efficient method for learning to move.

In the sense of a comprehensive education, adults also get a lot of background information about the development of the mouth in the secured parent area via simple videos.

In addition, an automatic time lock prevents excessive smartphone use by children. The app is currently available as a free trial version for download in Google PlayStore and Apple AppStore.