Did you know tongue scalloping or tooth indents on the side of the tongue, are a strong clinical indicator of obstructive breathing during sleep?
Tongue scalloping is a result of low tongue tone and posture, and it’s often also a reflection of poor palate development and constricted tongue space.
Research suggests in a pool of people with tongue scalloping:
• 89% have severe collapses of the airway lasting ten seconds or more.
• 89% have reductions in oxygenation during the night
More details can be reviewed here: “The Association of Tongue Scalloping With Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Related Sleep Pathology.”
The researchers conclude its presence should prompt physicians to enquire about snoring history.
The sooner we can spread this information amongst medical and dental professionals the better.
Obstructive breathing is linked to chronic stress, inflammation, and sleep disruption. It is linked to increased risk of virtually every chronic health disease and reduced quality of life.
Many patients with these hidden airway problems are medicated for its symptoms.
This patient has spent her life revolving in and out of the GP’s office, and was on at least six medications, each with their own side effects, including immune suppression and dry mouth. This compounds the reduced quality of life.
Sleep is terrible, but beyond the prescription of a sleeping aid, sleep has not been investigated thoroughly.
There has been chronic use of medication for reflux, anxiety, and depression.
Healthcare must move from medication to placing more emphasis on healthy breathing and sleep as key pillars for good health and prevention of disease.
And our best opportunity to establish airway health is in childhood. This means promoting nasal breathing, and healthy mouth function and structural development early.
In this case, there is a tongue-tie, and the palate is underdeveloped resulting in constricted tongue-space.
There were so many warning signs that oral function and structural development were off track in early in life, starting with a history of breastfeeding difficulties. We just need to understand this and know what to look for, and patients like this are my biggest inspirations to keep getting the message out.