Dr. Casey Jones

How we breathe affects our oral health, mental wellness, and sleep. We see more cavities and more gum disease in those that are breathing dysfunctionally, and that is why we consider it a part of dentistry! It’s called “sleep disordered breathing,” but a better way to refer to it would be “breathing disordered sleep.” It tends to be the breathing, not the sleep that is the root cause of the issue. It is a common misconception that it is only the overweight male with a large neck, and loud snoring that is at risk for obstructive sleep apnea. Sleep disordered breathing can start in childhood, and can affect even a young fit athlete. As a society, we are growing smaller jaws, and therefore smaller airways. Sleeping and breathing were never meant to compete, and when they have to, we hope that breathing wins every time so that you’re alive, but if it’s at the expense of quality sleep, it’s like an explosion of inflammation that affects every system of the body negatively. It can even affect our mental wellness where we see more anxiety, and depression in those that have sleep disordered and dysfunctional breathing.