What is Myofunctional Therapy?
Myofunctional therapy is similar to physical therapy, for your face and intraoral structures. The focus of myofunctional therapy, also called "myo", is the airway.
Myofunctional therapy is for both children and adults and focuses on issues such as improper tongue posture, dysfunctional breathing (mouth breathing), improper swallowing patterns and muscle imbalances.
Myofunctional therapy can help provide relief from snoring/sleep apnea/sleep disordered breathing, TMJ pain and tension, especially when related to clenching & grinding teeth, chronic headaches & neck strain, speech difficulties/mumbling and poor posture.
In children, myofunctional therapy can be used in combination with orthodontics to ensure that soft tissue dysfunction does not affect long term success of braces. Orthodontic relapse is common when habits such as tongue thrusting, low tongue posture/mouth breathing or other muscle dysfunctions are present.
Research Articles
Learn more about myofunctional therapy as it relates to pediatric dentistry.
This article discusses atypical swallowing patterns, typically called "tongue thrust swallowing" and how myofunctional therapy can help develop the correct swallowing technique.
Myofunctional Therapy and Sleep Apnea: A Systematic Review
This article discusses the effectiveness of tongue tie releases with myofunctional therapy.
Do you suffer from TMJ pain and dysfunction? Myofunctional therapy can help decrease your symptoms.
Nasal breathing is important for appropriate craniofacial and airway development in children.
Learn about sleep disordered breathing in children.
Myofunctional therapy can support orthodontic therapy in children with anterior open bites.
A study that connects tongue ties and narrow palates.
Learn about the effectiveness of myofunctional therapy on treating TMD (jaw) pain.
Learn about how a dysfunctional swallowing pattern can contribute to TMD (jaw) pain.
Learn about the effects sleep disordered breathing can have in children
Myofunctional therapy is utilized to treat sleep disordered breathing in both children and adults.
How can myofunctional therapy be used to treat patients with mild to moderate sleep apnea?
Learn how myofunctional therapy is used to keep lips sealed and why it is important for lips to be sealed day and night.
Learn about how myofunctional therapy can be used to treat sleep apnea as either a stand alone treatment or in combination with other therapies.