“Mouth breathing changes a child's face and teeth.”
Children who mouth breathe for years tend to grow a longer lower face with a downward-angled jaw, a narrower upper jaw and bite problems.
A child who mouth breathes most of the time is worth having checked, mainly to find and treat a blocked airway or a sleep problem. Treating the cause early has been followed by more normal jaw growth in studies.
Mention regular mouth breathing or snoring to your child's pediatrician and dentist at the next visit.
Safety note: Do not tape a child's mouth shut. Restricting the mouth can be dangerous when nasal airflow is blocked or sleep-disordered breathing is present.
Talk to a healthcare professional if: your child breathes through the mouth most of the time, snores often, gasps or pauses in breathing during sleep, is very sleepy during the day, or has new behavior or school problems.
Reviews consistently find jaw, face and bite differences in children who mouth breathe, and growth partly moves back toward normal after enlarged tonsils or adenoids are removed, which points to a real effect. Confidence is limited because the studies are observational or uncontrolled, small and at high risk of bias.
Children who mouth breathe for years tend to grow a longer lower face with a downward-angled jaw, a narrower upper jaw and bite problems. When enlarged tonsils or adenoids were removed, jaw growth and upper-jaw width partly returned toward normal. Genetics and habits also shape a child's face, so mouth breathing is one cause among several.
Chronic mouth breathing usually has a cause, such as enlarged tonsils or adenoids or a blocked nose, and it can go with sleep apnea. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises screening all children for snoring and lists removal of enlarged tonsils and adenoids as the first treatment for childhood sleep apnea. A 10-study review found differences in jaw rotation, front-tooth angle and airway size between mouth-breathing and nose-breathing children.
- Zhao Z, Zheng L, Huang X, Li C, Liu J, Hu Y. Effects of mouth breathing on facial skeletal development in children: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Oral Health. 2021;21(1):108. doi:10.1186/s12903-021-01458-7. PMID:33691678; PMCID:PMC7944632
- Becking BE, Verweij JP, Kalf-Scholte SM, Valkenburg C, Bakker EWP, van Merkesteyn JPR. Impact of adenotonsillectomy on the dentofacial development of obstructed children: a systematic review and meta-analysis. European Journal of Orthodontics. 2017;39(5):509-518. DOI: 10.1093/ejo/cjx005. PMID: 28379334
- Marcus CL, Brooks LJ, Draper KA, et al.; American Academy of Pediatrics. Diagnosis and management of childhood obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Pediatrics. 2012;130(3):576-584. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2012-1671. PMID: 22926173