What is Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy?
Orofacial myofunctional therapy goes by many names: Orofacial myology, orofacial myofunctional therapy, myofunctional therapy, and OMT are the most common. So what is it and who can benefit?
Let’s break it down: “Myo” comes from the Greek word muscle and “oro” means mouth. Orofacial myofunctional therapy is a specialty that focuses on the muscles of the face and mouth. For this blog's sake, I will refer to orofacial myofunctional therapy as OMT. OMT is a series of strength and retraining exercises meant to modify maladaptive behaviors & retrain the oral and facial muscles to function properly. The goal of a myofunctional therapy is to teach 4 main goals:
Proper oral rest posture
Proper tongue position
100% nasal breathing
A correct swallow pattern
Anything that prohibits someone from achieving one of those goals is referred to as an oral myofunctional disorder (OMD) and should be corrected as soon as possible to avoid long-term consequences.
Let’s discuss some symptoms and potential consequences of OMDs.
Common symptoms include:
Poor sleep, head forward posture, neck tension, speech issues, TMJ issues, chronic congestion, crooked teeth, mouth breathing, snoring, sleep apnea, digestion issues, and insufficient jaw development.
Image showing the facial changes impacted by mouth breathing. Image credit: The Breathe Institute.
Humans are born obligate nasal breathers and become mouth breathers for various reasons. Chronic and uncontrolled allergies, pet allergies, food allergies, a tongue-tie, nasal obstruction, etc. Identifying and treating the root cause is very important. As you can see from the photo above, how we breathe can significantly impact our jaw development and face shape. Beyond esthetics, mouth breathing causes a high vaulted palate, narrow jaws, and a smaller nasal cavity. Can you see how this can contribute to long-term congestion and TMJ issues when left untreated?
Let’s recap…
An oral myofunctional disorder is anything that prohibits the mouth from being closed with the lips sealed, the tongue from resting on the palate, or prohibits someone from achieving a correct swallow pattern. Common examples of a myofunctional disorder:
thumb-sucking habit beyond the age of 4
mouth breathing
a tongue-tie/tongue restriction
crowded teeth/insufficient jaw development
teeth grinding
poor sleep/snoring/sleep apnea
speech issues
If you or your child suffer from any of these issues, it would be wise to have a comprehensive evaluation performed by a myofunctional therapist or airway-focused orthodontist/dentist. If you do not have someone in the field you know and trust, I offer Telehealth appointments for both comprehensive exams & myofunctonal therapy and would love to work with you!
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