Airway Health: Mouth Breathing and Nose Breathing are not the same.

Understanding the Differences

Kelley Richardson, B.S. specializes in helping parents and medical providers identify signs of sleep and airway disorders in children. By raising awareness and providing education, she empowers parents to take proactive steps and enables medical professionals to recognize subtle indicators, ensuring appropriate intervention when necessary.

Our Story

Until our son Finn was 6, he had never slept through the night. We were exhausted. It never occurred to us to look at how he was breathing.

One day, we asked: Is he breathing through his nose or mouth?

Finn was a mouth breather. We didn’t know that mouth breathing can actually cause nasal congestion and disrupt deep, restful sleep. His nights were full of tossing, sweating, nightmares, and labored breathing. He had dark circles, eczema, and was constantly congested – clearly in distress.

We tried everything – doctors, meds, diets – but nothing worked until a dentist explained how nose breathing filters and prepares the air we breathe, while mouth breathing bypasses those protections and can worsen congestion and inflammation.

The first breakthrough was simple but powerful: Help Finn switch from mouth breathing to nose breathing.

That shift changed everything.

We created The Very Stuffy Nose to help other families begin this same journey. Breathing through the nose may seem small – but it makes a huge difference. Your child can become a super nose breather too.

What worked for Us

By transitioning Finn’s:

Breathing – from mouth to nose and through proper nasal hygiene, breathing exercises and expansion orthodontics;
Sleeping – from restless and fragmented, to deeper and restorative levels of sleep by improving his breathing and sleeping environment.

About Kelley Richardson

The Healthy Airway

Hi, I’m Kelley, a mom, wife, author, and clinical education specialist, dedicated to improving breathing and sleep quality.

With over 25 years in the dental industry, I’ve focused on training dentists in expansion orthodontics at Invisalign and ClearCorrect, TMD solutions and dental airway education at the Dawson Academy. I’ve received training in Myofunctional Therapy at the AOMT and Breathing Coaching at the Buteyko Clinic International with Patrick McKeown.

At Super Breathers, our mission is to raise awareness among parents, caregivers, teachers, and medical professionals about identifying and screening children with signs of disordered breathing and restless sleep. We provide simple to advanced implementation strategies through our partnering organizations to address the root causes of disordered breathing.

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