What is Myofunctional Therapy?

Myofunctional therapy is like a dental version of physical therapy. There are four goals we are looking to correct. Mouth breathing, tongue posture, lip posture and swallowing technique. There are various exercises used to strengthen and retrain the tongue to help restore proper function. The tongue when in the wrong location can cause changes to the face and as a result become jagged on the sides and lack tone and definition.

The goal with myofunctional therapy is to restore proper function and to aid in opening the airway. The goal is to make it easy and possible to breathe solely through the nose. Often times myofunctional therapy is done in conjunction with orthodontics, tongue tie release surgery and/or ENT treatment(such as deviated septum surgery).

Sleep apnea

Chronic mouth breathing changes the muscles and structure of the face. Over time these changes can put people at risk for tongue obstructing the airways. This starts off as Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome and eventually this does lead into Sleep Apnea. Proper tongue posture, breathing and swallowing will help reduce your risk and aids into the treatment/tolerance of a CPAP.