"Myo" meaning "muscle" + "Function" + "Therapy" = the practice of exercises to help improve daily posture and functions of the muscles that make up the face and airway.

Therapeutic techniques can help establish, restore, and optimize the position and motor output of the structures of the head and neck. Suboptimal craniofacial development, posture and function of the orofacial complex have been shown to contribute to the development of many health-related issues. This is often the root cause of problems associated with orthodontics (think crowded teeth, or an open bite), poor swallowing patterns (such as a tongue-thrust) and increased respiratory effort (like mouth-breathing and even snoring!).

Therapy works to retrain the muscles in order to achieve these 4 specific goals:
- nasal breathing (all day and all night)
- maintaining a lip seal (all day and night)
- proper tongue resting posture (all day and all night)
- proper swallowing mechanics

The muscles trained include the tongue, lips, cheeks, soft palate, and the muscles of the throat and airway. When combined with other needed treatments like airway expansion, orthodontic alignment, or tongue-tie release, myofunctional therapy can help alleviate and prevent issues that sometimes seem small but are warning signs for much bigger problems, like teeth grinding, snoring, and much more.

Does Myofunctional Therapy seem right for you? Contact us today for an assessment!