Overview

This is a specialized form of physical therapy that focuses on retraining the muscles of the mouth, face, tongue, lips, jaw, and cheeks to achieve proper function and posture. It involves a personalized program of exercises designed to correct improper oral habits, such as mouth breathing, tongue thrusting, or reverse swallowing. These issue can disrupt normal development and daily functions such as eating, speaking, and breathing. Therapy emphasizes nasal breathing, proper tongue positioning, and lip closure to promote overall orofacial health. 

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What It Treats

The therapy primarily addresses orofacial myofunctional disorders (OMD's), which are patterns of muscle dysfunction that can affect structural growth, speech, and airway development. Common conditions include sleep disordered breathing (snoring, obstructive sleep apnea), temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders, orthodontic relapse, and issues in children like open mouth posture or improper facial growth. Often used alongside orthodontic treatments to stabilize results or as non-invasive alternative for mid-airway issues. 

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Benefits

Therapy is expected to lead to improved nasal breathing and reduced mouth breathing, enhancing sleep quality and energy levels. It supports better facial symmetry, straighter teeth alignment, and speech clarity by correcting muscle imbalances, Other advantages include decreased risk of TMJ pain, enhanced swallowing efficiency, alleviation of sleep apnea symptoms, and potential prevention of orthodontic interventions in children.