Abstract
Chronic mouth breathing may adversely affect craniofacial development in children and may result in anatomical changes that directly impact the stability and collapsibility of the upper airway during sleep. Mouth breathing is a multifactorial problem that can be attributed to structural, functional, and neurological etiologies, which are not all mutually exclusive. While therapeutic interventions (myofunctional, speech and swallowing, occupational, and craniosacral therapy) may address the functional and behavioral factors that contribute to mouth breathing, progress may sometimes be limited by restrictive lingual and labial frenum that interfere with tongue and lip mobility. This case report explores the case of a three-year-old girl with mouth breathing, snoring, noisy breathing, and oral phase dysphagia that was successfully treated with lingual and labial frenuloplasty as an adjunct to myofunctional therapy. Within four days of the procedure, the patient had stopped snoring and demonstrated complete resolution of open mouth breathing. The patient was also observed to have increased compliance with myofunctional therapy exercises. This report highlights the effectiveness of surgical interventions to improve the efficacy of myofunctional therapy in addressing open mouth posture and low tongue resting position.
Highlights
Open mouth breathing is a highly prevalent phenomenon that affects 10–25% of the pediatric population [1] with one study reporting a prevalence as high as 55% [2]
We have detailed the case of a 3-year 7-month-old female who presented with mouth breathing and noisy breathing during sleep despite a completely patent nasal cavity, who was successfully treated with labial and lingual frenuloplasty accompanied with myofunctional therapy
Myofunctional therapy aims at addressing functional issues that can contribute to and exacerbate mouth breathing through therapeutic exercises, self-awareness, and supportive techniques to improve tongue posture, lip seal, and nasal patency [16, 21, 22]
Summary
Chirag Govardhan ,1 Janine Murdock ,2 Leyli Norouz-Knutsen ,1 Sanda Valcu-Pinkerton ,1 and Soroush Zaghi 1,3. Mouth breathing is a multifactorial problem that can be attributed to structural, functional, and neurological etiologies, which are not all mutually exclusive. While therapeutic interventions (myofunctional, speech and swallowing, occupational, and craniosacral therapy) may address the functional and behavioral factors that contribute to mouth breathing, progress may sometimes be limited by restrictive lingual and labial frenum that interfere with tongue and lip mobility. Is case report explores the case of a three-year-old girl with mouth breathing, snoring, noisy breathing, and oral phase dysphagia that was successfully treated with lingual and labial frenuloplasty as an adjunct to myofunctional therapy. Within four days of the procedure, the patient had stopped snoring and demonstrated complete resolution of open mouth breathing. Is report highlights the effectiveness of surgical interventions to improve the efficacy of myofunctional therapy in addressing open mouth posture and low tongue resting position Within four days of the procedure, the patient had stopped snoring and demonstrated complete resolution of open mouth breathing. e patient was observed to have increased compliance with myofunctional therapy exercises. is report highlights the effectiveness of surgical interventions to improve the efficacy of myofunctional therapy in addressing open mouth posture and low tongue resting position
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