Is Our Modern Diet Changing Our Jawline And Increasing Incidences Of Sleep Apnoea?

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Is Our Modern Diet Changing Our Jawline And Increasing Incidences Of Sleep Apnoea?

  1. Home
  2. Dental Articles
  3. General Dentistry Articles
  4. Is Our Modern Diet Changing Our Jawline And Increasing Incidences Of Sleep Apnoea?
Is Our Modern Diet Changing Our Jawline And Increasing Incidences Of Sleep Apnoea In Sunbury Dental House At Sunbury
It seems that generally, as modern humans we have quite a few issues with our teeth. Cavities, crowding, crookedness and the familiar procedure of having wisdom teeth removed are top of the list; with gum disease being one of the most common afflictions in the world.

It’s a curious contradiction that our teeth are covered in the hardest substance produced by the human body, and yet are essentially so fragile. They’re incredibly complex structures of living tissue that that can withstand 2550 kilograms of pressure per 2.5 square centimetres. Tooth enamel is 96% mineral, is stronger than bone, and can remain intact up to a temperature of 1600°C.

What it can’t withstand is the acidic oral environment created by excess sugar and carbs, and too many things in the average Western diet.

Other primates don’t have the problems we do with our teeth and jaws. Ninety percent don’t have slightly misaligned, or maloccluded teeth; neither do 75% of them have wisdom teeth that are crowded, impacted, or consigned to never emerge.

It probably doesn’t need pointing out that chimps don’t chomp chips, orangutans don’t Uber onion rings and macaques don’t queue at Macca’s. Certainly, our canine friends didn’t have to undergo anaesthesia for teeth cleaning and periodontal disease treatment until we decided that kibble and cans were a better plan than raw food and bones.

You can see a pattern here.

It’s been long recognised by palaeontologists that the human jaw is now too short to comfortably accommodate the number of teeth evolution has assigned us.

This imbalance of nature and nurture was first defined by US Professor Emeritus Robert Spencer Corruccini, anthropological odontologist.

Dr Corruccini, Ph.D had just started teaching in 1977 when a student mentioned to him that the seniors raised in his Kentucky state had been bred on a diet of foods requiring lengthy chewing. The resultant muscle resistance gave them well-defined jawlines, and less tooth and bone loss in their older years. Within two generations and for first time ever, processed and soft textured foods had became the norm.

It prompted a study.

It showed that despite having had almost no regular and professional dental care – and certainly much less than the improved methods and techniques to which their grandchildren were exposed – the older generation had better tooth alignment and healthier bites.

What Corruccini identified, is that these dental differences were far from genetic: they were differences created from the lack of chewing that was previously necessary to properly swallow food. Gone were the coarse grains, chewy meats and fibrous vegetables that were the bulk of a daily diet. Traditions of table manners, deliberate and instructional eating times as a family (“chew each mouthful thirty-two times, kids”) were swiftly elbowed out the way for soft processed carbs, fewer home cooked meals and bowls of food that could be bolted down in front of the tv.

Dr Corruccini reasoned that there’s a programming of tooth size that occurs during growth, that’s heavily dependent on the level of mechanical stress demanded by a childhood diet. Without adequate stimulation during development the back teeth become impacted, and the front teeth crowded. Experiments on monkeys confirmed the hypothesis: those fed on soft textured foods had smaller jaws and unerupted teeth.

It appears that this abrupt transition to more foods, and more frequently consumed foods that demand so little mastication, absolutely disrupts the signalling system that determines our correct and appropriate orofacial structure.

This complete mismatch between behaviour and biology, brought about by the modern Western diet of convenience, distraction, overabundance and profit is completely unlike any other time in the existence of the human race. A sizeable portion of the Western world sizeably portions, and is hugely accustomed to overeating.

Historically, that’s never been possible before.

It has changed our digestion system, altered the oral microbiome colonies that are so imperative to wellbeing, and completely disordered our health.

Is Our Modern Diet Changing Our Jawline And Increasing Incidences Of Sleep Apnoea At Sunbury Dental House In Sunbury
An initial 2015 animal study showed the connection of muscle use and jaw development, to mouth breathing – a phenomenon that had been first observed in the early 1900s. Habitual breathing through the mouth results in craniofacial dystrophy, with chronic allergies and ailments like asthma affecting the facial growth pattern of children. Normal development is forward in structure, with a straight mandible.

Persistent mouth breathing results in a longer, narrower face and changes the angle of the forehead. The lower jaw recedes; resulting in an overbite, crowded teeth and a palate not roomy enough to accommodate a resting tongue.

In turn, without the muscle tone to keep the tongue in its proper place, typically, it rolls back onto the airway at night.

Sleeping brings snoring: a sign of sleep disordered breathing, and obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). Chronic exhaustion, and lack of reliable oxygen supply to the brain during this time results in poor concentration – which is also associated with ADHD, or variable attention stimulus trait (VAST).

Diagnosed across all age groups and frequently connected to obesity, OSA can lead to life-threatening health complications. However, a truly unfortunate upshot is that children are being misdiagnosed with ADHD or VAST and wrongly prescribed psychoactive drugs in order to manage it. These children are likely to never have the opportunity to reach their academic potential, and are at risk of being bullied for their facial disproportion.

It’s a serious issue, with ‘mouth breather’ still the pejorative term for a low IQ stereotype.

In all of this of course genetics plays a hand, but what’s evident and critically important is the hand that feeds the kids – they need to be able to bite it.

Properly, hard, and enduringly.

The average Western diet is broken. It’s missing simple, savoury foods that lead to healthy eating habits. Getting children to eat well hasn’t necessarily ever been easy – and few aspects of parenting are. Now that we’re continuing to create a culture that commonly gives children the deciding vote for reasons that are always justified, it’s created a daunting monster. The Centers for Disease Control asserts that in the US alone, toddlers now on average consume seven teaspoons of sugar a day.

The recommended allowance for adults is 12; with zero advocated for children under two.

Once upon a time, convenience to a harried mother meant not having to cook and puree baby food; for contemporary working parents it’s not having to serve it. The food industry has stepped up to the (non) plate by tweaking military foil ration packs into pouches to sip from; along with squeeze tubes, boxes with straws and toddler sized packets.

For the most part, they’re feeding themselves in the back of the car or in front of a screen.

Without focused encouragement, the bland taste of sweetened squish and flavoured, dusty-fingered crunch can become the culinary driver for a very mundane menu’d life. Exasperatingly picky eating, and an adulthood of many doctor dates; possibly punctuated only by meetings with the maxillofacial surgeon.

It’s something to really chew on the next time you think it’s easier to give the kids the chicken nuggets or fish fingers they always want, play to the perpetual pasta plate pacification, or have never questioned the idea that what they demand is what they should have. There’s far more value in preparing and sharing food than just feeding.

We like to think our tastes are us; that we were born loving or hating particular foods. While it’s true that food experiences differ, we’re omnivores. There’s plasticity in the brain, and useful flexibility in parental attitudes and behaviours toward food. Figuratively and literally creating a healthy palate in your offspring, is the gift that keeps on giving.

Taste begins as nature, and ends as nurture. Ditch the white paste bread and UPFs. Serve up those raw carrots, green beans, roast meats and crunchy fruits and together count every one of those thirty-two chews as an in-your-face blessing.

Note: All content and media on the  Sunbury Dental House website and social media channels are created and published online for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be relied on as health or personal advice.

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