Breathing is a vital body function. We, humans, normally breathe through the nose; however, for different reasons, people start with breathing through mouth instead. Mouth breathing is an altered breathing pattern in which air enters the body through the oral cavity. This change can negatively affect various areas. Craniofacial development, speech, posture, sleep quality, and academic performance are just some of the areas impacted. Any of them significantly influences one’s quality of life. Children are a particularly vulnerable group. Due to their rapid growth and development, they are more susceptible to the negative effects of mouth breathing. Early intervention is therefore of crucial importance in eliminating mouth breathing and thus preventing potential comorbid conditions. The cooperation of various professionals, including a speech-language pathologist, is extremely important in this process. However, the role of a speech-language pathologist in managing mouth breathing is often overlooked in the literature.
In the theoretical introduction of the master’s thesis, we present the basic anatomical structures involved in breathing, describe the physiology of breathing, describe the types of breathing, and discuss the open-mouth posture and mouth-breathing syndrome. We then focus on the etiology and consequences of mouth breathing, which are closely intertwined. The etiology is divided into forced mouth breathing, habitual mouth breathing, and sucking and biting habits. The consequences of changed breathing patterns include adenoid face, oral cavity conditions, postural changes, hearing problems, speech and language disorders, sleep disorders etc. Next, we address the management of mouth breathing, which includes the detection of changed breathing patterns to mouth breathing and mouth breathing therapy. In the part dealing with the detection of changed patterns, we include anamnestic questions that should be asked parents or guardians, describe the clinical examination performed by a speech-language pathologist, and present various tests that can be used to determine the distorted breathing patterns. We present the Awake Breathing Pattern Assessment (ABPA) - a protocol developed to detect breathing patterns in speech-language pathology practice. In the section on mouth breathing therapy, we focus on myofunctional exercises. In the research section of the thesis, we used a questionnaire to examine how and to what extent speech-language pathologists in Slovenia are involved in the management of mouth breathing. We aim to determine how familiar they are with the topic of mouth breathing and whether, and to what extent, cooperation with other professionals takes place.
The results show that more than 70 % of participating speech-language pathologists were able to identify at least one cause of disorder, one consequence and one method for detecting mouth breathing. It also showed, that they were familiar with at least one approach for mouth breathing therapy. The participants of the survey reported using a variety of approaches in the management of mouth breathing. For the detection of mouth breathing, the most used methods were observing the lip seal during quiet activities and the lip seal test. For mouth breathing therapy, the most frequently used approach was myofunctional therapy. On average, one quarter of the children included in the speech-language pathology practice are mouth breathers. On the other side the survey shows, that cooperation with other professionals remains rare. A total of 54.5% of respondents agreed that lack of collaboration is the main challenge in managing mouth breathing.
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