Orofacial myofunctional disorders contain one or a combination of the following: abnormal thumb, finger, lip and tongue sucking habits; an inappropriate mouth open or lips open resting posture; a forward interdental rest posture of the tongue; a forward rest position of the tongue against the maxillary incisors; lateral, posterior interdental tongue resting posture; inappropriate thrusting of the tongue in speaking and\/or swallowing.<\/p>\n
Tongue thrust is one of many common disorders associated with orofacial myofunctional disorders (OMD).<\/p>\n
Nearly all young children exhibit a swallowing pattern involving tongue thrust protrusion, but by the age of 6 most have automatically switched to a mature or \u201cnormal\u201d swallowing pattern.<\/p>\n
What are some common signs or symptoms to help identify an OMD?<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n What Does Therapy Look Like?<\/strong> We then make a plan for that individual. Therapy is one time per week for 30-minutes. The MyoProgram\u2122 is a series of 10 lessons focusing on changing muscle memory for the following:<\/p>\n Each individual progresses at their own rate depending on their coordination and needs. The patient will be given a series of exercises to perform 3 times a day to reshape and change muscle memory.<\/p>\n What Happens if OMD is not Treated<\/strong> If a child is an open mouth breather at a young age and it is not identified as being a problem, then this open mouth resting posture encourages tongue down, lip open resting posture during the day and night. When the mouth is open with tongue down and forward throughout the day and night, the individual is more susceptible to hypertrophic tonsils, adenoids and large nasal turbanants. When these tonsils\/adenoids are enlarged health risks increase:<\/p>\n With open mouth resting posture facial features develop differently. The face appears long with poor definition of cheek bones. The mandible or jaw is retracted and small which affects airway size making it small and at higher risk for sleep apnea. When teeth emerge, they are misaligned. If tongue is forward and down at rest, the teeth will find space to grow and that is when open bites or over jets develop. The palate is high and narrow due to the open mouth breathing. The nose shape can change as well as the eyes looking tired vs alert.<\/p>\n Over 50% of orthodontic patients exhibit some form of orofacial myofunctional disorder. If you are concerned about the possibility of orofacial myofunctional disorder, we want to help you. We work closely with a variety of professionals to provide comprehensive treatment. We communicate openly and often with other healthcare professionals including: Orthodontists, Dentists, ENT\u2019s, Sleep Apnea Specialists, Primary Care Physicians, Craniosacral Massage Therapists, and other care providers on the team.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What Actually Is It?Orofacial myofunctional disorders contain one or a combination of the following: abnormal thumb, finger, lip and tongue sucking habits; an inappropriate mouth open or lips open resting posture; a forward interdental rest posture of the tongue; a forward rest position of the tongue against the maxillary incisors; lateral, posterior interdental tongue resting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":3473,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"yoast_head":"\n\n
Each individual comes in for a comprehensive evaluation that we look at many areas of their health:<\/p>\n\n
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What happens if we don\u2019t treat OMD?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
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