How I Treat Mouth Breathing in Adults and Children

YTM® Tool

If you already know that you or your child mouth-breathes, the next question is usually:

What can actually be done about it?

As an airway-focused dentist, this is where much of my work begins.

Treating mouth breathing isn't simply about reminding someone to close their mouth. And it isn't about giving every patient the same set of exercises.

My focus is on creating the right conditions for comfortable nasal breathing and better oral function and then helping the body learn to maintain them.

Here is how I approach it.

Step 1: Make sure nasal breathing is possible

Before trying to change a breathing pattern, I need to know that breathing comfortably through the nose is actually possible.

If I identify something that may be making nasal breathing difficult, that needs to be considered first.

Sometimes this means treatment can begin with me. Sometimes I may recommend input from an ENT specialist, GP or another healthcare professional before, or alongside, the functional work.

This is an important part of my approach because you can't simply exercise your way around an airway obstruction.

Once nasal breathing is comfortable, we have a much better foundation to work from.

Step 2: Retrain the breathing pattern

Being physically capable of nasal breathing doesn't necessarily mean it happens automatically.

For someone who has mouth breathed for a long time, the pattern itself may need retraining.

I incorporate breathing retraining techniques to help establish more comfortable and controlled nasal breathing.

The goal isn't for you — or your child — to spend all day consciously remembering to keep the mouth closed.

I want nasal breathing to become progressively easier and more habitual.

Step 3: Address tension before adding strength

This is an area of treatment I place particular emphasis on.

Before asking the tongue and oral muscles to work harder, I want to understand how they are already working.

Some patients have developed significant patterns of compensation involving the tongue, jaw, TMJ, face and neck.

In these cases, I may not want to start by immediately adding strengthening exercises.

Where appropriate, I use the YTM® Method to address areas of tension and dysfunction before progressing into more active myofunctional work.

In other words, I want to establish better movement before asking the muscles to perform it repeatedly.

Step 4: Improve tongue and oral muscle function

The next stage is where myofunctional therapy becomes particularly important.

Depending on what I identified during assessment, we may work on:

• tongue resting posture

• tongue elevation and coordination

• strength and endurance

• suction

• lip seal and function

• chewing

• swallowing

  
  

This isn't a standard exercise programme.

The exercises and techniques I select are based on the individual's functional findings and are progressed over time.

Most importantly, being able to perform an exercise isn't the end goal.

I want the improved function to carry over into what the tongue, lips and jaw are doing throughout the day.

Step 5: Make the new pattern automatic

This is the part that can sometimes be overlooked.

A patient may be able to achieve excellent tongue posture or nasal breathing when consciously concentrating on it.

But what happens when they stop thinking about it?

Treatment needs to progress from consciously learning a new movement to integrating it into normal function:

Breathing. Resting. Chewing. Swallowing.

Ultimately, I want these patterns to require less conscious effort.

That is why treatment takes place over time rather than being a one-off appointment.

Is mouth breathing treatment different for children?

Yes. With children, treatment needs to be age-appropriate, achievable and engaging.

Because children are still developing, I am also mindful of the functional environment around the developing jaws and dental arches.

Recent research continues to show associations between mouth breathing and differences in dental arch dimensions and palatal morphology in children and adolescents.¹˒² This doesn't mean mouth breathing alone determines facial growth, but it reinforces why oral function during development deserves attention.

How is treatment different for adults?

Adults often arrive with patterns that have been present for many years.

This means treatment may involve more work around established tension and compensation before progressing into strengthening.

One adult may need greater focus on breathing retraining. Another may need more work around the tongue. Someone experiencing significant jaw or TMJ dysfunction may begin with the YTM® Method.

For another patient, I may decide further investigation needs to happen first.

The symptom may be the same. The treatment doesn't have to be.

Do I ever use an appliance?

Yes, where appropriate.

An appliance isn't my automatic treatment for mouth breathing, but there are circumstances where an oral appliance may form part of a wider treatment plan.

For selected adults with appropriately diagnosed obstructive sleep apnoea, for example, a custom-made oral appliance, like a mandibular advancement device (MAD) is an established treatment option.³

Where sleep apnoea is suspected, however, the appropriate investigation and diagnostic pathway comes first.

What about tongue-tie?

I don't automatically recommend a tongue-tie release because someone mouth breathes.

My focus is function.

If tongue mobility appears restricted, I assess how the tongue moves and whether the jaw or surrounding muscles are compensating.

Where a release is appropriate, functional preparation beforehand and rehabilitation afterwards may form part of the treatment journey.

Where does mouth breathing treatment start?

For my patients, it starts with an Airway & Myofunctional Assessment.

The assessment allows me to determine where in the treatment pathway you or your child actually need to start.

That might be:

Nasal breathing → Release → Retrain → Strengthen → Integrate

Or it might mean involving another healthcare professional first.

There is no single mouth-breathing treatment that is right for everybody.

I aim to understand what needs to change, address it in the right order, and work towards breathing and oral function that become comfortable, sustainable and eventually more automatic.

Airway & Myofunctional Assessments

I provide comprehensive Airway & Myofunctional Assessments for adults and children in Camberley, Surrey, welcoming patients from Berkshire, Hampshire and further afield.

Dr JJ

Airway-Focused Dentist

Breathing • Sleep • Function

References

1. Lin L, et al. The impact of mouth breathing on dentofacial development: a concise review. Front Public Health. 2022;10:929165.

2. Lekvijittada K, Uengkajornkul P, Changsiripun C. Dental arch dimension and palatal morphology in children and adolescents with mouth breathing: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Oral Health. 2026;26:1047.

3. Ramar K, et al. Clinical practice guideline for oral appliance therapy in obstructive sleep apnoea and snoring. J Clin Sleep Med. 2015;11(7):773–827.