The aim of the Good Health Dentistry breathing clinic is to inform my patients on how to normalise breathing. It recognises the medical proof that most of us are hyperventilating. With hyperventilation we keep our mouths open. Open mouth breathing is the main cause of malformed teeth, faces and the respiratory illnesses that our children suffer from.
People need to be informed that the cause of so many illnesses and weaknesses is due to breathing too much air. This is termed “hidden hyperventilation”. Medicine has known for many years that the normal healthy volume should be about 5 to 6 L per minute. However, medical research of the last 100 years has shown that in the so-called civilised world, this volume is increasing exponentially.
The significance of this and the correction of it was explored by Professor Buteyko in Russia during the 60s, 70s and 80s. It has a profound effect on our health and well-being, especially in the areas of asthma, snoring and sleep apnoea. But the overall effect on the health of the whole body in rest and action is enormous. It affects our nervous system causing a sense of anxiety, excitement and depression, while also affecting libido in both sexes.
Professor Buteyko explored the science of how this works using already explored evidence and his own research. He developed simple and effective exercises for its correction.
The basis of it lies in the retraining of the respiratory centre in the brain that governs the breathing cycles. The trigger for these cycles lies in the concentration of CO2 in the lungs in the blood. The importance of CO2 is scientifically well-established but clinically ignored and unappreciated. (Please see the importance of CO2 in the body).
Basically, because of our habit of open mouth breathing with hyperventilation, we have been diluting the concentration of CO2 in the body. The breathing centre in the brain has become conditioned to this lower concentration and therefore directs breathing towards higher volume per minute. The simple and relaxing exercises for breathing retrains the respiratory centre so that less air is breathed per minute increasing the concentration of CO2, and thereby increasing the amount of oxygen available to the tissues, causing a healthier and stronger body. This is because it is carbon dioxide that controls the transfer of oxygen from the blood into the tissues. Basically the rule is to breathe less for more oxygen to the tissues.
Professor Buteyko also developed a simple method so that people can monitor their progress by themselves.
As a dentist my initial interest in breathing retraining was to address the need to achieve lips together breathing through the nose. Open mouth breathers have a low tongue posture with a tongue thrust swallow and this is the main driving factor for distorted teeth and face and the requirement for orthodontics and also the cause of the subsequent relapse. However, open mouth breathers are also hyperventilators. So if we wish to achieve lips together breathing with the tongue in the roof the mouth in order to achieve good dental and facial development, we need to retrain the breathing back to its normal volume because hyperventilation causes obligate mouth breathing. But as a health practitioner who furthered my knowledge by studying the Buteyko method, I could not ignore the responsibility to make this knowledge and technique available to anyone who wishes to treat their illnesses or improve their general health.
At Good Health Dentistry, our aim is to offer a relaxing and personal dental experience. Offering our patients a range of cutting-edge techniques and treatments including Teeth Whitening, TMJ Treatment, Cosmetic Braces, Holistic Orthodontics and Sleep Apnoea Treatment.
As a dentist my initial interest in breathing retraining was to address the need to achieve lips together breathing through the nose. Open mouth breathers have a low tongue posture with a tongue thrust swallow and this is the main driving factor for distorted teeth and face and the requirement for orthodontics and also the cause of the subsequent relapse.
We provide, three 1.5-hour sessions over three successive days during the school holidays for all our children, teenagers and adults who are undergoing holistic orthodontics treatment with us. The primary aim is to establish lips together breathing so that we can attain the optimal development of the shape of the face and jaws and to prevent relapse in the future. However, the secondary effect is for the health, especially in the area of respiratory ailments such as asthma, snoring and sleep apnoea, which are very common ailments with people in need of holistic orthodontics treatment, as these issues are all interconnected.
For people who wish to improve their health, or suffer from asthma and other respiratory diseases, who have snoring and sleep apnoea, people who have high blood pressure and other coronary diseases. In fact, for anyone who is taking any pills whatsoever the first and fundamental thing to do is to get your breathing correct and then seek any further medical treatment you might need. These courses are of four 1.5 hour sessions spread over about four weeks. The exercises given are simple and relaxing but profoundly transformative.