Services

Orofacial Myofunctional Disorder Symptoms and Treatment

Checklist for Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders

  • Do you have an open mouth at rest posture or mouth breath?
  • Does your tongue rest against your teeth?
  • Have your teeth moved after orthodontia?
  • Do you experience frequent headaches?
  • Do your jaw and neck hurt often?
  • Do you chew food with your mouth open?
  • Do you sleep on your stomach or side?
  • Do you have habits like nail-biting, pen chewing, frequent lip-licking or chewing, thumb-sucking?
  • Do have a forward head position?
  • Do you lisp at times when pronouncing the “s” sound?
  • Does it seem your tongue comes forward when you swallow?
  • Do you drool or have bloating or stomach distress after eating?
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Services Offered

  • Buteyko Breathing

  •

    Habit Elimination

  • Tongue Tie and other oral tethers evaluation

Tongue thrust is the most common cause of OMDs. In adolescence and adulthood, it can be seen in 30-40% of the population. It occurs when the tongue moves forward and against the teeth instead of against the palate.

The most obvious symptom of incorrect oral patterns involves the muscles of the face. A dull, sluggish appearance and full, weak lips can develop when the orofacial muscles are functioning inappropriately.

Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders (OMDs) are disorders of the muscles and their functions that innervate the face and mouth. OMDs may affect facial skeletal growth and development, chewing, swallowing, speech, occlusion, TMJ movement, stability of orthodontic treatment, facial aesthetics, and more.

Myofunctional Therapy is a holistic, non-invasive approach to treating OMDS. The program is fun and progressive for each individual.

    • Create awareness of muscles used
    • Re-pattern muscles to achieve proper oral resting positions
    • Develop normal neuro-muscular functions
    • Establish good habits
  1. Pretreatment Phase - Eliminate any undesirable habits
  2. Intensive Phase - Coordinating and patterning orofacial muscles to attain proper function and reinforce bad habit elimination through a series of exercises that teach tongue rest position and closed lip seal.
  3. Generalized Phase - Exercises are tailored to maintain a new pattern of swallowing and teach awareness of oral rest position. Both day and night habits are observed. During this phase, we introduce proper chewing and swallowing along with correct head and neck posture.
  4. Habituation Phase – Follow up, reinforcing the muscle memory patterns.

Benefits

01

Prevent relapses after orthodontic treatment

02

Improve the relationship between dental arches

03

Improve nasal breathing patterns

04

Maintain overall facial muscle tone needed for chewing, swallowing, and speech

05

Eliminate open-mouth posture

06

Improve dry mouth condition

07

Improve oral hygiene