Breathing Problem in Children Misdiagnosed.

• Position: ADHD - Brief article

They are two conditions that might seem to have nothing in common: mouth breathing and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Yet, children who breathe through their mouths because of a dental issue easily may be misdiagnosed with ADHD, resulting in being given powerful drugs unnecessarily.

"Mouth breathing is often caused by an obstruction in the nasal airway," says Ami Barakat, author of Perfecting Smiles, Changing Lives: Your Guide to an Exceptional Dental Experience. "More than half of the people diagnosed with ADHD are mouth breathers. That is too significant a statistic to be a coincidence."

In the U.S., anxiety disorders such as ADHD are the most-common mental illness, affecting 40,000,000 adults, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. Meanwhile, ADHD is the most-prevalent psychiatric disorder in children.

Mouth breathers are more...