This is our now dear friend Lucas, one of the kindest and most uplifting souls we’ve ever encountered. When Lucas was growing up, his upper jaw growth was stunted which lead to an open bite between his front teeth which made it extremely difficult for him to breathe naturally with his nose… This robbed him of a healthy mouth and set him up for a lifelong uphill dental battle. He is by far the healthiest mouth breather we have ever met, which is a huge testament to his work ethic and dedication. 

Mouth breathing is one of the most inflammatory processes possible: Our noses are designed to filter air, warm it, reduce air flow, and lubricate our lungs with nitric oxide. Mouth breathing dries the mouth, removing it of it’s most potent cavity fighting barrier (saliva), and it dries the airway while over feeding oxygen which creates a carbon dioxide deficit in the body leading to chronic inflammation (dm for the full scientific breakdown of this process). 

To make matters worse for Lucas, 10 years ago he had a traumatizing  dental experience, which is not uncommon especially amongst individuals who care about their health but have been dealt a bad hand. After 10 years of fearful avoidance, he mustered the courage to fly out and spend a yoga retreat-like weekend with us to get his mouth back into health. 

Now he is currently wearing an upper expander to reshape his face (yes it’s possible without surgery!) and bring his mouth into the position he rightly deserves in conjunction with a breath work regiment to break the harmful mouth breathing habits.  From there we will straighten his teeth with Invisalign, restore his missing teeth with implants, and grant him the smile that better reflects his heart and soul 🙂