Mouth breathing in children : Speech therapist in Malaga and online
As a specialized speech therapist, I treat mouth breathing in children on a daily basis, both in Malaga and online.
Mouth breathing in children is one of the most common myofunctional disorders in speech therapy practice. Although it may seem a minor habit, its consequences on speech development, language, posture and craniofacial growth are significant when not treated in time.
What is mouth breathing?
Mouth breathing, also called mouth breathing syndrome, is the breathing pattern in which the child uses the mouth as the primary route for breathing, rather than the nose. Nasal breathing is physiologically correct: it filters, warms and humidifies the air before it reaches the lungs. When this pattern is chronically disturbed, the entire stomatognathic system is affected.
Mouth breathing causes a general imbalance of the stomatognathic system and other vital functions, including sucking, chewing and swallowing.
Causes of mouth breathing in children
The most frequent causes are of otorhinolaryngologic origin. Among the main ones:
- Adenoid and/or tonsillar hypertrophy : upper airway obstruction
- Chronic allergic rhinitis : persistent inflammation of the nasal mucosa.
- Nasal septum deviation
- Prolonged sucking habits (pacifier, bottle) modifying tongue and lip posture
- Dental malocclusion
A study evaluating children with mouth breathing found a statistically significant association between respiratory etiology, orofacial myofunctional disorders and speech impairment.
Consequences on speech and language
Mouth breathing can affect speech development, socialization and school performance. Early detection is essential to prevent and minimize its negative effects on the overall development of the child.
More specifically, the most frequent logopedic alterations associated with mouth breathing include:
- Tongue thrusting: the tongue adopts a low and forward position that interferes with articulation.
- Sigmatism (lisping or hissing) : difficulties with the sounds /s/, /z/.
- Voice alterations : nasal voice, hoarseness, vocal fatigue
- Atypical swallowing: incorrect swallowing pattern associated with lingual posture.
- Attention difficulties: related to poorer quality of sleep due to snoring and apneas.
In a sample of children with mouth breathing, 81.7% presented speech disorders, including articulation problems, fluency disorders and voice alterations. Frontal lisp was the most frequent, present in 36.1% of cases.
Consequences on craniofacial development
Chronic mouth breathing not only affects speech: it also has structural consequences on the development of the face and mouth:
- Ogival palate (narrow and high)
- Anterior open bite
- Dental protrusion
- Compensatory body posture (head forward, shoulders slumped)
A clinical study with 224 children aged 6 to 10 years showed that untreated mouth-breather children had greater anteroinferior facial height and tooth protrusion compared to nasal-breather children, with statistically significant differences.
When to consult a speech therapist for mouth breathing in children?
It is recommended to consult a speech therapist if the child shows any of the following signs:
- Mouth open at rest, dry or cracked lips
- Night snoring or restless sleep
- Nasal or pasty voice
- Pronunciation difficulties (lisp, distortion of sounds)
- Chewing or swallowing problems
- Frequent fatigue, inattention or irritability
When the child begins early speech therapy for mouth breathing, around 4 years of age, the results are usually very positive, being possible to avoid the problems associated with this disorder and even reverse the orofacial dysfunctions in some cases.
Speech therapy treatment of mouth breathing
The speech therapy approach to mouth breathing is based on Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy (OMT), which aims to restore muscular balance in the orofacial area, correct tongue and lip posture at rest, and re-educate the nasal breathing pattern.
Myofunctional therapy has demonstrated highly significant improvements in lip strength, lip closure, breathing, tongue posture, swallowing pattern and orofacial muscle balance in patients who completed a treatment program.
A study on myofunctional therapy in children with sleep disordered breathing showed that the treatment reduced mouth breathing from 83.3% to 16.6%, decreased lip hypotonia from 78% to 33.3%, and restored the correct resting position of the tongue in a statistically significant way.
Treatment is always interdisciplinary: the speech therapist works in coordination with the otolaryngologist (to treat the cause), the orthodontist (to correct the dental consequences) and the pediatrician.
The combination of orthodontics, speech therapy and otolaryngology reduces recurrences and optimizes results. Myofunctional therapy is essential to restore function, and interdisciplinary work is indispensable to avoid downstream structural sequelae.
The sessions can be done in person or completely online, with exercises adapted to work at home with the accompaniment of the speech therapist.
Speech therapist for mouth breathing in Malaga and online
If you suspect that your child is habitually mouth breathing, don’t wait for the consequences to set in. A speech therapy evaluation allows you to identify the orofacial dysfunctions present and to design a personalized treatment plan.
I offer speech therapy sessions in Spanish, French and English, both in person at my office in Mijas (Malaga) and online for patients from all over Spain and abroad.
- Caneiro, R., & Degan, V. V. (2004). Oral breathing and speech disorders in children. Journal of Pediatrics, 80(5), 409-413. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23809686/
- Baidas, L., Al-Jobair, A., Al-Kawari, H., AlShehri, A., Al-Madani, S., & Al-Balbeesi, H. (2022). Mouth breathing and speech disorders: A multidisciplinary evaluation based on the etiology. Journal of Taibah University Medical Sciences, 17(5), 815-822. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9469305/
- Habumugisha, J., Cheng, B., Ma, S. Y., Zhao, M. Y., Bu, W. Q., Wang, G. L., Liu, Q., Zou, R., & Wang, F. (2022). A non-randomized concurrent controlled trial of myofunctional treatment in the mixed dentition children with functional mouth breathing. BMC Pediatrics, 22(1), 503. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9413933/
- Huang, Y. S., Quo, S., Berkowski, J. A., & Guilleminault, C. (2015). Short lingual frenulum and obstructive sleep apnea in children. International Journal of Pediatric Research, 1(1). Cited in: Can myofunctional therapy increase tongue tone and reduce symptoms in children with sleep-disordered breathing? https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28315149/
- De Felício, C. M., Ferreira, C. L. P., Ferreira, T. M., & Rodrigues Da Silva, M. A. M. (1994). Myofunctional therapy in patients with orofacial dysfunctions affecting speech. International Journal of Orofacial Myology, 20, 9-18. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1490647/
- Fuentes Cortés, I. (2026). Respirar por la boca en la infancia: causas, consecuencias y tratamiento interdisciplinar. Clínica Cedesna. https://www.cedesna.com/respirar-por-la-boca-en-la-infancia-causas-consecuencias-y-tratamiento-interdisciplinar/
- Asociación Española de Pediatría. (2020). Respiración bucal en los niños. EnFamilia. https://enfamilia.aeped.es/temas-salud/respiracion-bucal-en-ninos
