| WHAT ADENOIDS DO.
One of the first results of the growth of adenoids is mouth breathing.
When this condition develops, the air breathed in reaches the throat and
lungs in an unpurified condition. Moreover, it is not sufficiently
warmed or moistened. In a short time, therefore, such children begin to
suffer from repeated colds, and show the signs of a beginning of nasal
catarrh. Unless proper treatment is now undertaken the condition soon
gets worse, and the child's nasal breathing becomes more and more
obstructed.
Children who suffer from adenoids are usually pale, often
narrow-chested, and altogether are not as strong and robust as are
normal children.
But this is by no means all of the harm done by adenoids. They affect
the voice, disfigure the facial expression, interfere with hearing, give
rise to night terrors, open the way for serious invasions by disease
germs, and, through the development of chronic nasal catarrh, may lead
to loss of the sense of smell.
The alteration of the facial expression is often so great that the child
looks stupid and sometimes even half-imbecile.
One of the chief disfigurements caused by adenoids is that of the jaws
and teeth. This is well shown in the picture. | | It will be noticed that the teeth of the upper jaw stick out and are not
covered by the lip as they should be. In these cases the roof of the
mouth, that is, the palate, is narrow and highly arched, and the two
jaws do not come together as they do in normal persons. This condition
is called "malocclusion." Usually, too, the teeth of the upper jaw are
irregular and crowded. 
The malformation of the teeth thus produced by adenoids may lead in turn
to other serious conditions, among them the chronic disease known as
pyorrhea, various forms of root infection, and chronic indigestion. | | HOW TO RECOGNIZE THE CONDITION.
The presence of adenoids should be suspected if the child habitually
sleeps with open mouth, snores a great deal, or has frequent strangling
coughing spells. Sleeping with open mouth is one of the first signs and
should therefore lead at once to a careful examination by a physician.
Sometimes difficulty in hearing is one of the early symptoms. Therefore,
in all cases of ear trouble an examination should be made for adenoids. | |