OROFACIAL MYOFUNCTIONAL THERAPY (OMT)
Do you or your child experience any of the following:
Mouth breathing / open mouth posture?
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Tongue thrust swallow?
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Thumb, finger or prolonged dummy sucking?​
Lisp / speech ​errors?
Grinding / clenching teeth?
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Crowded / crooked teeth?
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Messy eating / chewing noisily with mouth open?
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Drooling?
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Forward head posture?
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Nasal allergies / enlarged tonsils / chronic runny or blocked nose?
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Tongue tie?
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Obstructive sleep apnea / snoring?
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TMJ pain / clicking / headaches?
If yes, then you or your child may have an Orofacial Myofunctional Disorder (OMD)
An Orofacial myofunctional disorder (OMD) is a dysfunctional lip, jaw, or tongue movement during speech, chewing, swallowing or at rest. These patterns of dysfunctional movements involving oral and orofacial musculature interfere with normal growth, development, or function of orofacial structures.
One type of OMD is a tongue thrust, when the tongue rests too far forward in the mouth or protrudes forward during speech or swallowing.
OMDs may affect, directly and/or indirectly: breastfeeding, facial skeletal growth and development, chewing, swallowing, speech, occlusion, temporomandibular joint movement, oral hygiene, stability of orthodontic treatment, facial esthetics, and more.
OMDs are thought to occur because of:​
Upper airway obstruction (eg. enlarged tonsils and adenoids, inflammation due to allergies)
Chronic oral habits (eg. thumb/digit/dummy sucking)
Hereditary skeletal factors (eg. recessed chin)
Lip and tongue habits (eg. mouth breathing, tongue thrust)
Neurological, structural, muscular, or other physiological abnormalities - conditions that affect the structures or muscle tone of the lips, tongue, mouth and facial muscles (e.g. Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Cleft lips/palate).
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Following a comprehensive assessment, your SP will devise a treatment plan to retrain your oral motor function. This may include therapeutic exercises to:
establish nasal breathing
improve strength and coordination of oral and facial muscles correct oral rest posture
correct chewing and swallowing patterns
improve speech sound production