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Mouth breathing syndrome has several health consequences, especially in children and adolescents. The objective of the present study was to carry out a literature review to identify the alterations and consequences associated with mouth breathing syndrome. The search for articles was performed in electronic databases including: PubMed, Elsevier, EBSCO, Medline, SCielo, Springer; The keywords used were: “mouth breathing”, “children”, “body growth”, “maxillary growth”, “cognitive development”; articles in English from the last 10 years were included, a total of 26 articles were included in this Review. Most of the children and adolescents with mouth breathing showed alterations in the corporal posture with hyperextension of the head acquiring kyphosis posture and therefore intervening in the development and craniofacial growth, showing a greater inclination of the jaw and greater anterior height facial, in addition to presenting some class II malocclusions, posterior crossbite and anterior open bite. In addition to physical changes, their cognitive development was also affected in patients with oral respiration, with early recognition and timely treatment are essential to improve the quality of life of these patients.