In This Issue: Close Your Mouth


Close Your Mouth

by Trisha O'Hehir, RDH, MS
Hygienetown Editorial Director


Close Your Mouth is the title of one of Patrick McKeown's books. After reading his book and completing his educator's coaching program, I found myself saying, "close your mouth" - under my breath of course - to people I'd see on television or just walking through the grocery store. Too many people walk around with their mouth open.

Patrick lived with asthma for more than 20 years, suffering with the tightness in his chest and fighting for breath. He knew the suffocating feeling in his lungs all too well; when he wanted to draw more air in, but couldn't. His asthma also limited his physical activity. This was before 1997 when he discovered the work of Dr. Konstantin Buteyko, a Russian physician who showed a link between breathing volume and several conditions including asthma. Patrick traveled to Russia to study with Dr. Buteyko and is now teaching the Buteyko Breathing Method, which in my mind is actually the McKeown Breathing Method as Patrick has added and modified the method to achieve the best results with his clients.

Patrick is a scholar of breathing research. He helps hundreds of children and adults change from mouth breathing to nose breathing each year and trains breathing coaches all over the world. Breathing is essential to life, and deep, slow nose breathing is the goal. Where better to bring people's awareness of their breathing to them than in the dental office? Dentists and hygienists are the ideal professionals to check for nasal vs. mouth breathing and address the many problems associated with mouth breathing. Read Patrick's article and see if you too will want to start telling people to "Close your mouth."

Inside This Section
88    Perio Reports
92    Profile in Oral Health: Nose Breathing for Good Health, Fitness and Correct Craniofacial Development
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