Your child’s tongue does more than help them taste ice cream and form words. The way their tongue rests inside their mouth shapes how their face develops, how well they breathe, and even how they sleep. Unfortunately, when the tongue sits in the wrong position day after day, it can lead to a narrow palate, crowded teeth, and breathing difficulties that affect your child’s overall health and development.
At Airway Dental & More, we help families understand how tongue posture affects development and provide treatments to support healthy growth. From addressing tongue ties to guiding facial development with orthodontic appliances, we take a comprehensive approach to ensure your child can breathe, sleep, and thrive.
How Tongue Position Shapes Facial Growth
When your child’s tongue rests properly against the palate, it acts like an internal scaffold that helps the upper jaw develop correctly. The gentle, consistent pressure from the tongue encourages the maxilla to grow forward and outward, creating space for teeth and supporting the structures around the airway. This forward development of the face is essential for both appearance and function.
Facial development relies heavily on correct tongue function from infancy. Babies who nurse effectively use their tongues, lips, and cheeks to pull on the bones of the jaw, setting the stage for proper growth. When tongue ties or other restrictions prevent this natural movement, the development may slow down or follow an abnormal pattern. The result can be a high arched palate, which narrows the nasal passages and restricts airflow.
Children with poor tongue posture often develop long, narrow faces rather than broad, well-proportioned features. Their dental arches may be too small to accommodate all their permanent teeth, leading to crowding and the need for extensive orthodontic treatment later.
The Connection Between Tongue Posture and Breathing
Proper nasal breathing supplies the lungs with warm, moist, clean, and sanitized air. When your child’s tongue rests low in the mouth or pushes forward, it often signals that they’re breathing through their mouth instead of their nose. Chronic mouth breathing delivers cold, dirty, dry, and unsanitized air directly to the lungs, leading to dry mouth and gum disease.
Research shows mouth breathing affects between 11% and 56% of children, making it one of the most common concerns in pediatric development. Mouth breathing can be indicative of an obstructed nasal passage or enlarged adenoid. When the tongue doesn’t sit in its correct position on the roof of the mouth, it fails to support the airway opening in the back of the throat. This can contribute to sleep-disordered breathing, where your child struggles to get enough oxygen during sleep.
You might notice signs like snoring, restless sleep, teeth grinding, or daytime fatigue. Some children even need to get up multiple times during the night to use the bathroom. These seemingly unrelated symptoms can all point back to airway issues related to tongue position and breathing patterns.
Tongue Ties and Restricted Movement
Tongue tie, or ankyloglossia, occurs when a tight band of tissue binds the bottom area of the tongue to the floor of the mouth. This condition can affect breathing, oral development, and proper oral rest posture. When the tongue cannot move freely, it cannot reach the roof of the mouth where it belongs.
Children with tongue ties may have difficulty nursing as infants, which affects their early facial development. As they grow, they may struggle with speech sounds, eating certain foods, and maintaining proper tongue posture. The restriction prevents the tongue from providing the natural forces needed to guide jaw growth.
Tongue and lip ties represent only part of the picture. Lip ties play a minor role, but tongue ties create a bigger problem. When these restrictions are identified and treated early, children can develop better tongue function and avoid many of the complications associated with poor tongue posture.
When to Seek Professional Evaluation
If you notice persistent mouth breathing, snoring, teeth grinding, or difficulty sleeping, consider scheduling an evaluation. Early assessment can identify issues before they become more significant problems. Diagnostic and screening tools such as Cone Beam Computed Tomography scans, rhinometry, pharyngometry, and take-home sleep studies provide detailed insights into the anatomical and functional structures of the airway.
We look at a wide range of concerns, from behavioral challenges to how well your child sleeps through the night. The body is all connected, and proper tongue position plays a surprisingly significant role in overall health and well-being. When the tongue functions correctly, it can even help with posture and emotional regulation.
Building a Foundation for Lifelong Health at Airway Dental & More
Addressing tongue posture issues early gives your child the best chance for healthy development. The changes you make now can prevent the need for more invasive treatments later and support better breathing, sleeping, and overall quality of life.
At Airway Dental & More, we focus on doing what’s best for the people who come to see us. We take the time to listen to your concerns and provide education about how oral development affects the whole body. Our goal is to help your child achieve natural harmony in oral health through comprehensive dental and airway care tailored to them. If you have questions about your child’s tongue posture or want to learn more about how we can support their development, we invite you to contact us to schedule a consultation. You can also learn more about our team and our approach to patient care.
