Our skull is designed to enable us to breathe, chew, swallow, speak and smile. The cranium of a human is made up of 22 bones, including the braincase and facial bones.

The upper and lower jaw bones are crucial for shaping the face, enabling chewing, and forming the airways. These two bones are undeniably significant.

Many people think the jaw is just a mechanical device that allows us to grind and chew food. Still, the truth is that it does much more and has a significant effect on every other organ in the body.

The Upper Jaw

Suppose the upper jaw fails to develop normally in one of the three dimensions of growth (height, width, depth). In that case, it can lead to problems such as airway obstruction, crooked teeth and impacted wisdom teeth. At the age of about 12 years, the upper molars develop in the posterior part of the upper jaw. As part of this process, the sinus is reshaped, with part of its outline turning into bone, which will accommodate the upper molars (wisdom teeth). 

If the remodelling is not done correctly, molars might not have sufficient space to come through and get stuck. This is why many individuals require surgery to remove impacted molars, particularly when they exert excessive force on the front teeth.

Abnormal development of the upper and lower jaw also leads to crooked teeth. Simply put, the jawbones are the bases where the teeth must grow. When the base is not the right size or is distorted in some way, the teeth cannot grow in balance. The upper and lower jaws are like the concrete base of the seats in a stadium. 

If the cement is deteriorated or the base is too small, the seats cannot be placed in aligned rows. They end up crowding or sticking out. Because the bones of the skull are so closely connected, a deformity in the upper jaw can cause problems in other areas of the face and head, such as the eye sockets and nasal sinuses. If the upper jaw is not developed typically, the eye sockets may be underdeveloped, distorting the eyeball and leading to vision problems such as astigmatism or myopia.

A deformity in the upper jaw can reduce oxygen intake. Humans collect oxygen mainly through nasal breathing. To ensure oxygenation and ventilation, a necessary condition is the free air passage from the air cavities to the nasal chambers and lungs, and vice versa. 

A standard nasal passage is designed to slow airflow into the sinuses, warming and humidifying the air and allowing it to mix with nitric oxide (NO), increasing oxygen uptake. – spawn in the lungs. When a person breathes through the mouth, their lungs are dry, the air is not filtered, and there is no nitric oxide.

This means that their body is constantly deprived of oxygen, the lack of which can damage their heart muscle, brain tissue and potentially every cell in their body. Abnormal formation of the upper jaw can also lead to a crooked nasal septum and narrowing and obstruction of the nasal passages. 

When a person has a high palate with crooked upper teeth, their ability to breathe through the nose can be reduced. One way to enhance the proper amount of oxygen intake is to perform appropriate muscle-functional therapy exercises for the mouth, tongue, and jaw.

The Lower Jaw

The lower jaw is the largest and strongest bone in the face. It contains the lower teeth and is connected to the base of the skull through the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). Additionally, the lower jaw provides the bony support for the muscles that support and control the tongue and throat, which are essential for swallowing and breathing. During puberty, the lower jaw grows in width, length and height. Like the upper jaw, any issues with the lower jaw can also cause sleep apnea and breathing difficulties. While the maxilla bone forms the nasal airways, the mandible influences the formation of the lower airways (pharynx, larynx, trachea and soft palate).

The tongue comprises a complex group of muscles attached to the lower jaw, the soft palate, and the horseshoe-shaped hyoid bone at the front of the throat. These muscles of the tongue act as a supporting structure for the airway of the mouth. At rest, the tongue should remain on the palate, keeping the oral airway open. However, when the palate is narrow, the tongue remains in the lower part of the mouth, and the muscles do not keep the airway open to perform the breathing function. 

There is also less room for the tongue when the lower jaw cannot adequately accommodate the wisdom teeth. This can lead to poor tongue position, which rests in the back of the throat instead of the top of the mouth, and cause a decrease in muscle tone. A tongue lacking muscle tone can impede breathing, depriving the lungs of critical oxygen. This condition can worsen during sleep, leading to pressing human health problems such as sleep apnea (interruptions in breathing during sleep).