Friday 5 February 2016 12:18pm
PhD student Joanne Choi
Mouth breathing during sleep is linked to a more acidic oral environment that may promote tooth enamel erosion and caries, new University of Otago research suggests.
Dentistry researchers from the University's Sir John Walsh Research Institute studied the oral pH levels of 10 healthy volunteers who alternated between sleeping with and without a nose clip that forced them to breathe through their mouths.
Their study's findings, published in the Journal of Oral Rehabilitation, showed that the average pH during sleep with forced mouth breathing was a mildly acidic 6.6 compared to a neutral 7 when nose breathing.
Study lead author and PhD student Joanne Choi says the research team found a noticeable difference in the pattern of variation of pH and temperature between day and night.
“Intraoral pH decreased slowly over the hours of sleep in all participants, but showed greater falls over a longer period of time when participants were forced to mouth breathe,” Ms Choi says.
At times the pH levels fell as low as 3.6 during forced mouth breathing during sleep, well below the critical threshold of 5.5 when enamel starts to demineralise, she says.
“This study is the first to continuously monitor intraoral pH changes in healthy individuals over several days. Our findings support the idea that mouth breathing may indeed be a causal factor for dental diseases such as enamel erosion and caries.”
The study was funded by the Dentsply Research Foundation and Maurice and Phyllis Paykel Trust project grants.
For more information, contact:
Joanne Choi
Sir John Walsh Research Institute
University of Otago
Tel 479 7117
Email joannechoi87@gmail.com
Publication details:
Choi, J. E., Waddell, J. N., Lyons, K. M. and Kieser, J. A., Intraoral pH and temperature during sleep with and without mouth breathing. Journal of Oral Rehabilitation. doi: 10.1111/joor.12372
A list of Otago experts available for media comment is available elsewhere on this website.
Electronic addresses (including email accounts, instant messaging services, or telephone accounts) published on this page are for the sole purpose of contact with the individuals concerned, in their capacity as officers, employees or students of the University of Otago, or their respective organisation. Publication of any such electronic address is not to be taken as consent to receive unsolicited commercial electronic messages by the address holder.