I'd like to add one more comment to this thread.  My oldest needed
orthodontics because he had been a mouth breather at night for years.
He doesn't have allergies (he's been tested twice) but he does have a
chronic sinus infection, and the practice of being a mouth breather
affected the shape of his mouth.  My younger two also had braces, but
not nearly for as long or for as severe a problem.  I also wonder
whether if left alone to grow long enough, their "problems" may have
gone away as well, but the orthodontist who was treating their older
brother scared me with his predictions.
Kris Rogers, RN, IBCLC, LLLL
Crystal Lake, IL