Role of the dentist in the treatment of mouth breathing

Abstract

Mouth breathing is a syndrome that causes changes in organs and systems, directly impacting the patient's quality of life. As a result of changes and harm to the patient's health, it has become a public health problem. To analyze the contribution of the dental surgeon in the treatment of mouth breathing, in addition to discussing the main consequences of mouth breathing and presenting bad oral habits and the impact on mouth breathing. This is an integrative literature review, which analyzed ten articles published between the years 2015-2022. In addition, the application of the analytical and qualitative research method, which consists of discussing the results of articles that have already been published, giving scientificity to the data collected. It was highlighted that nasal breathing is inherent to the human being since it establishes balance between all organs, although oral breathing is possible, its use stems from several internal and external factors that harm the patient's health. The dental surgeon is one of the professionals qualified to treat this type of problem because he has techniques and interventions necessary for the recovery of nasal breathing. It is concluded that an orthodontic treatment directed to the mouth breather and adapted according to the age of the patient is necessary, because in the case of children, the use of pacifiers should be discouraged and correct chewing should be encouraged. In the case of adult patients, breathing should be improved through maxillary expansion.