Importance of Proper Oral Resting Posture

Oral resting posture, also known as resting mouth position, refers to how your jaw, tongue, and lips are positioned when your mouth is at rest. Tongue posture is also critical at night!  By keeping the tongue on the roof of their mouths during sleep it helps create an open airway for optimal breathing. When the tongue rests lower in the mouth and you lay on your back, it can block the airway and cause sleep breathing disturbances. Maintaining proper oral posture is crucial for promoting nasal breathing and overall oral health. Poor posture can lead to a variety of health problems, such as sleep disturbances, TMJ issues, and abnormal facial growth.

Proper oral resting posture involves:

• Keeping the mouth closed, with the teeth touching or slightly apart

• Lips gently sealed

• The tongue resting on the roof of the mouth (hard palate)

• Breathing through the nose

Optimal Oral Rest Position

Identifying Improper Oral Resting Posture

The following signs may indicate that your child has improper oral resting posture:

• Snoring or drooling

• Mouth breathing during the day or night

• Difficulty in closing the lips completely (is their mouth always open in pictures)

• A jaw that shifts to one side

• A long, narrow facial structure

• A tongue that rests low in the mouth

• Tongue thrusting (this usually display itself with spaces seen between the biting surfaces of some of the upper and lower teeth, either in front or back)

Causes of Improper Oral Resting Posture

Various factors can contribute to improper oral resting posture, with airway issues being the most common.  If nasal breathing is obstructed due to chronic allergies, enlarged tonsils or adenoids, or structural problems like a deviated septum, the body may resort to mouth breathing.

Other contributing factors include poor oral habits, such as extended use of pacifiers, thumb or finger sucking, and nail biting. These habits, when done excessively, can alter the shape of the oral cavity, affecting the roof of the mouth and the alignment of the teeth.

Structural issues like tongue ties or lip ties can also play a role in limiting the tongue’s mobility and ability to rest in the proper position on the roof of the mouth. This can disrupt the proper development of the hard palate as a child grows.  If you think your child may have a tongue tie or lip tie impacting their oral resting posture discuss with your pediatric dentist.  The health care pactitioners in the South Bay Airway Health Collective take a conservative approach to resolving issues involved tethered oral tissues - seeking to find functional, non-surgical solutions before proceeding with any form of surgical procedures (tongue tie or lip tie releases).

The Importance of Oral Resting Posture

Improper oral resting posture can result in negative impacts on many aspects of your overall health. Mouth breathing is associated with an increase in illnesses and allergies. The nose acts as a filter, helping to prevent harmful particles from entering the lungs, while also humidifying and warming the air you breathe. Mouth breathing bypasses these benefits.

The position of the tongue is also linked to sleep-disordered breathing, such as obstructive sleep apnea, which can lead to poor sleep. Sleep is essential for the body to recharge and heal, and insufficient sleep is connected to a range of long-term health issues.

Improper oral resting posture can lead to dysfunction of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), the joints that connect the jaw to the skull. TMJ dysfunction can cause chronic pain in the jaw, neck, or head.

Additionally, poor oral posture can influence the growth of facial and jaw structures, potentially leading to difficulties with chewing and swallowing. An open mouth posture can also result in dry mouth and poor oral hygiene.

Important to Monitor your Child’s Development.

Your doctor, dentists and other healthcare providers spend relatively limited time with your children, so its important to take a proactive approach to monitoring your child's development (it takes a village). If you're concerned about your child's or your own oral resting posture, consider these steps:

• Become aware of your own oral posture and (when they are old enough to understand) encourage your child to spend a few minutes each day concentrating on their oral posture—note where teeth, tongue, and lips are positioned when they are at rest.

• Pay attention to instances when your child are not breathing through your nose. Encourage your child to close their mouth, and see if they can maintain that position and continue breathing comfortably.

• Strengthen your children's oral muscles by eating a variety of non-processed, whole foods and thoroughly chewing on both sides of your mouth before swallowing.

• Most importantly, if you have concerns about your child's oral resting posture, schedule an evaluation with a pediatric dentist or orofacial myofunctional therapist for further guidance.

How to Improve Oral Resting Posture.

Improving oral resting posture involves working with a professional trained in orofacial myology, such as a speech-language pathologist (SLP) or a registered dental hygienist (RDH) with expertise in this area. Orofacial myofunctional therapy is often part of a multidisciplinary approach involving pediatric dentists, orthodontists, ENT specialists, sleep experts, and bodywork professionals like physical therapists, occupational therapists, massage therapists, or chiropractors.

Once an airway issue has been ruled out, usually by an ENT or pediatric dentist, an orofacial myofunctional therapist can create a treatment plan aimed at:

• Correcting oral resting posture

• Encouraging nasal breathing

• Eliminating harmful oral habits

• Improving chewing and swallowing pattern

  
  

Myofunctional therapy can benefit patients of all ages, starting as early as four years old.