REIMAGINING ORAL HEALTH

What Is Myofunctional Therapy?

Myofunctional therapy is a gentle, exercise-based program that retrains the muscles of the mouth, face, and airway. These muscles play an important role in essential functions such as breathing, chewing, swallowing, speaking, and maintaining proper lip, tongue, and jaw posture.

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HOW MYOFUNCTIONAL THERAPY WORKS
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“The therapy not only helped her speech but also helped her sleep. She is now in braces three years post Myofunctional Therapy and we didn’t have to do expanders, all thanks to Jennifer.”

—JM

At its heart, myofunctional therapy is about creating lasting changes that improve quality of life, from better sleep and easier breathing to more confident speaking, eating, and daily functioning.

real impact

When these muscles are out of balance they can contribute to a wide range of issues. Some of the possible indications of orofacial myofunctional dysfunction include:

  • Mouth breathing

  • Dry mouth night/day

  • Chronic idiopathic cough or throat clearing

  • Chapped lips

  • Tongue thrust

  • Low tongue posture

  • Heightened gag reflex

  • Extreme anxiety in dental chair

  • Narrow arch/ vaulted palate

  • Tired appearance bags under eyes

  • Long narrow face

  • No definition in chin/jaw

  • Low tone in facial muscles

  • Bed wetting past 3 years old

  • Hyperactivity/ADHD/behavioral issues/ temper

  • Decreased cognitive function

  • Developmental delays

  • Night terrors

  • Waking multiple times per night

  • Restless sleeper – moves a lot

  • Waking tired not refreshed

  • Sleeping with mouth open (dry mouth)

  • Pain in facial muscles/joint/ neck and shoulders

  • Grinding/clenching

  • Reflux

  • Eating – picky, slow, messy, chokes on food easily, chewing with mouth open

  • Speech difficulties

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how it works

Myofunctional therapy works by teaching clients targeted exercises that strengthen and coordinate the orofacial muscles. The goal is to create healthy, long-term habits like:

  • Nasal breathing

  • Proper resting tongue posture

  • A closed-lip seal

  • Efficient swallowing

  • Improved muscle balance and tone

  • Healthier facial growth patterns (in children)

  • More stable orthodontic results

SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION
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Myofunctional Therapy is appropriate for children, teens, and adults and can be highly effective when used alongside specialties such as dentistry, orthodontics, sleep medicine, ENT care, lactation consulting, and speech-language pathology.