Dr. Arun Fotedar

The newborn are often extremely susceptible to fatal diseases and the first few months of the infant's life calls for uncompromised care and vigilance. One of the most precarious diseases afflicting the newborn babies are chronic lung disorders. This condition mainly emanates from a damage to the lung tissue, which results in breathing troubles. Under such circumstances, the lung may collapse, being filled with fluids and end up oozing out harmful mucus. While a severe form of such lung diseases may often result in the death of the infant, in most cases the infants outgrow the disease and with proper care, grow up to lead a healthy life. 

Most chronic lung diseases in infants are congenital and are spurred by a variety of causes: 

1. Premature delivery: Chronic lung diseases are recurrent in babies born prematurely, i.e. before the lapse of at least 26 weeks of gestation age. Underweight infants also run the risk of suffering from this ailment. The lungs are not able to develop fully in such situations as a result of which they become prone to respiratory distresses. Another allied trigger to Chronic Lung Disease is the use of ventilation on the premature babies. The forced breathing and imposed oxygen levels induced by ventilators often impair normal lung functions in babies. 
2. Fluids in the lungs: Certain babies are either born with or develop a condition where fluids accumulate in the lungs. This inflicts a lot of damage to the lungs and leads to such diseases.
3. Respiratory Infections: Some babies are likely to acquire lung infections from certain disease causing viruses. This largely handicaps the normal lung functions. 
4. Heart conditions:  Abnormal blood circulation in the heart also stimulates lung diseases in newborns. If the heart is unable to regulate the flow of blood to the lungs properly, then the chances of such diseases increase by leaps and bounds. 
5. Inhaling harmful foreign materials: Certain particles often affect the health of the lungs tremendously. Exposure to meconium during delivery might result in the inflammations that potentially injure the lung tissues. 
6. Nutrition deficiencies: If an infant's body lacks vital nutrients, it may result in a condition of malnutrition. Lack of vitamin A may cause chronic lung diseases. 

Chronic Lung Diseases are usually recoverable with early detection and appropriate treatment. However, one needs to meticulously cater to the health needs of the baby, in order to ensure complete recovery and avert recurrence.

Mouth breathing in children is very common and while a kid with open mouth might seem cute, it is not always the case. The parents need to be made aware that a child breathing through the mouth all the time is not normal and it is high time they find a way to manage it.

A little understanding of the effects of the mouth breathing habit on the child's health in general and oral health in particular can be an eye-opener for the parent. For an educated person, there are obvious symptoms, which indicate that the child is a mouth-breather.

These symptoms include:

1. Dryness of the lips
2. Crowding of the front teeth
3. Snoring
4. Sleeping with the mouth open
5. Recurrent infections of the airways including sinusitis and middle ear infections
6. Bad breath

Common causes include:

1. Chronic nasal obstruction/congestion because of which the child is not able to get enough oxygen through the nose.
2. Enlarged tonsils or adenoids
3. Thumb or finger-sucking habit
4. Recurrent respiratory infections

Effects of mouth breathing on oral health:

Mouth breathing may seem like a harmless habit, but has serious effects on the oral and dental health of the child. Some of them are discussed below.

1. Dry mouth: A constantly open mouth can lead to drying up of the saliva. This in turn leads to reduced effects of saliva including the flushing effect on the bacteria and the food deposits. This leads to increased chances of tooth decay and gum diseases.
2. Tooth decay: With reduced saliva, the pH remains acidic for a longer period of time, leading to increased chances of tooth decay.
3. Gum diseases: Reduced amounts of saliva also leads to increased gum disease and periodontal disease as the bacteria are not removed and have a conducive environment to act upon.
4. Facial development: A mouth breathing child maintains a different posture than a nose breather. This leads to a narrow and long face, flattened nose, smaller nostrils, reduced facial tone, thin upper lip, pouty upper lip, and a small lower jaw.
5. Speech: An open mouth causes the tongue to thrust into the palate when talking. This leads to altered pronunciation of some sounds; especially and can cause lisping.
6. Braces: Mouth breathing causes multiple challenges including prolonged treatment period, inability to close the gaps, reduced stability of the realigned teeth, and increased chances of relapse. The added complication of increased gum disease and tooth decay makes it worse. The habit needs to be corrected first before going in for braces.

If that sounds like a long list, they are not all inclusive. Early intervention in the habit can correct and negate all these effects. Talk to your dentist to know how to help your mouth breathing child.