Myofunctional Therapy
MITIGATE NIGHTTIME TEETH GRINDING
TREAT SLEEP-DISORDERED BREATHING
SUPPORT YOUR SYSTEMIC HEALTH
The Mouth-Body Connection
UNDERSTANDING HOW ORAL HEALTH AFFECTS THE REST OF YOUR BODY
There is a strong connection between a person’s oral health and their overall physical health. Conditions such as bruxism, sleep-disordered breathing, and mouth breathing can have significant negative effects on your systemic health. These conditions can lead to problems, such as chronic fatigue, headaches, respiratory problems, and even cardiovascular issues.
Ada Smile Place provides a range of treatments and therapies that together can help to treat these problems in both children and adults. Our team can develop a tailored treatment plan to improve your oral and overall health. By combining traditional treatments, such as restorative dentistry and oral appliances with myofunctional therapy, we can help you achieve relief from a range of issues.
What is Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy?
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
Orofacial myofunctional therapy is an approach that helps address a variety of dysfunctions related to the tongue and other facial muscles. In conjunction with other treatments, it focuses on retraining muscle patterns to improve oral function, which can also positively affect speech, swallowing, and breathing.
Lindsey Edwards is our registered dental hygienist and myofunctional therapist here at Ada Smile Place. If you have symptoms or conditions that myofunctional therapy can support, Lindsey will develop a personalized treatment plan that includes a series of exercises to help optimize the position and movement of your tongue and facial muscles. Over time, this can help alleviate symptoms and contribute to better overall health for patients. While it is not a standalone solution, myofunctional therapy complements other oral health treatments we provide and is part of our comprehensive approach to your oral health.
How Can Myofunctional Therapy Help?
ORAL AND SYSTEMIC HEALTH CONCERNS MYOFUNCTIONAL THERAPY CAN SUPPORT AND IMPROVE
Myofunctional therapy can support various oral and systemic health concerns by addressing underlying dysfunctions of the tongue and facial muscles. It can be especially beneficial for patients with these conditions:
Bruxism (nighttime teeth grinding)
Myofunctional therapy helps reduce the muscle tension that occurs in bruxism. It also encourages proper jaw alignment, which can reduce the frequency and intensity of teeth grinding. At Ada Smile Place, we also provide oral appliances that can treat bruxism in conjunction with your myofunctional therapy.
Sleep-disordered breathing, including sleep apnea
By retraining the muscles to support optimal airway function, myofunctional therapy can support improved breathing patterns during sleep. This can help alleviate some symptoms of sleep apnea.
Mouth breathing
Myofunctional therapy encourages nasal breathing and good tongue posture. This can help to reduce mouth-breathing and the associated complications that can arise because of it.
Low tongue posture or tone
Myofunctional exercises help strengthen the tongue muscles and encourage a better resting posture for the tongue.
Speech troubles
Myofunctional therapy is sometimes used as part of a collaborative approach to helping children with speech troubles. Together with other speech-related therapies, it encourages proper function and facial muscle coordination.
TMJ disorder
By addressing muscle imbalances and promoting proper jaw alignment, myofunctional therapy can help to improve function and reduce TMJ-related pain.
Habit elimination
Myofunctional therapy exercises can be designed to help break bad habits, such as thumb-sucking and nail-biting.
Who is an Ideal Candidate for Myofunctional Therapy?
FIND OUT IF THIS TREATMENT IS A GOOD FIT FOR YOU
Children
Children who exhibit certain behaviors like thumb-sucking, are reliant on pacifiers, or have a lip- or tongue-tie can be good candidates for myofunctional therapy. Myofunctional therapy helps retrain the facial muscles that are used in speech and feeding. Kids experiencing speech issues can also benefit from this form of therapy when combined with their other treatments.
Adults
If you’re an adult experiencing unexplained head, neck, or jaw pain, bruxism, or sleep-disordered breathing, myofunctional therapy may assist you. You can take it along with other treatments to help alleviate your symptoms.
Anyone With Systemic Health Issues
If you have a systemic health issue and are looking for relief, visit Ada Smile Place for a thorough evaluation. Our team can address many concerns through a variety of treatments to help you improve your overall health and well-being.
Find Out More About Myofunctional Therapy
Contact the team at Ada Smile Place today to make an appointment and see how myofunctional therapy can improve your health.
Access to quality dental care is essential for everyone.
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