Bad habits, like an open mouth with a low-resting tongue, often start in young children when childhood colds, congestion and allergies make it difficult to breathe through the nose. So children are forced to breathe through their mouth. This sets a habit that can be difficult to break—even throughout their lifetime—because the muscles of the tongue and face never learn to function correctly. Our purpose is to normalize tongue and lip resting postures through Myofunctional Therapy.
There are four primary goals of Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy in order to create, recapture or stabilize a normal resting position amongst the tongue, lips, teeth and jaws. They are:
- Nasal breathing
- Lip seal
- Proper tongue posture
- Correct swallowing pattern
At Airway & Sleep Group, we screen patients for factors such as tongue-tie; allergies and sensitivities; or past issues including thumb or finger sucking that can contribute to current bad habits. Once we determine the underlying issue, we use a Myofunctional Therapy series of exercises to work on closing the mouth, repositioning the tongue, and dealing with associated tongue thrust. It is literally physical therapy for the oral muscles and tongue to retrain it and change old habits, and normalize tongue and lip resting postures.
We guide patients in how to close their mouth and keep it closed for longer and longer periods, until the they are able to keep their mouth closed during the day and night. This restores the nasal breathing pattern and provides many health and wellbeing benefits.
There is no need to deal with habits that can affect your breathing, swallowing, or social interactions when a simple therapy is available. Contact us at Airway & Sleep Group for your consultation.