Opening Hours: Monday-Thursday: 8:00am – 4:30pm
Myofunctional Therapy in Sydenham, ON
Myofunctional Therapy Near You
What is Myofunctional Therapy?
Exercise based programs for retraining and toning of oral and facial musculature, leading to a stable oral environment. The pillars of myo-functional therapy include establishing patent nasal breathing, proper tongue rest position, correct swallowing patterns, and the elimination of non- nutritive sucking habits. These therapies can be adapted for a wide range of ages.
Infant evaluations (from birth to 12 months), will be assessed for lip and tongue-ties, feeding issues and oral development. Early evaluations for children will include assessment for airway and orofacial development, tethered oral tissues (lip and tongue ties), dysfunctional breathing and swallowing habits, non- nutritive sucking habits (thumb, fingers, and pacifier), bruxism, nutrition, sleep, and orthodontic screening.
We have a Certified Myomunchee practitioner, who can offer this program, with myo-functional coaching and support. Adult evaluations for restoration of normal rest posture of the tongue and lips, a functional patent nasal breathing and correct swallowing pattern, can assist in conditions such as sleep apnea.
A detailed medical, dental and birth history are included in our comprehensive exams and evaluations. Referrals if needed, can be made to our health partner practitioners. As form follows function, theses therapies are designed to develop normal neuromuscular functions, and establish a routine to achieve habituation, which translates to success!
The Importance of Proper Breathing
Fundamental to life is proper oxygenation of our bodies. Indeed, many chronic diseases can be directly attributed to poor breathing habits. In addition, many dental conditions are created by improper breathing, particularly mouth breathing.
Breathing through the mouth disrupts proper growth and development of the face and jaws, creating much of the malocclusion and
need for orthodontic therapy. Dry mouth from mouth breathing also increases the risk of dental cavities, and periodontal issues affecting oral tissue. Functional breathing is essential to the normal well-being of the body. The airway is a
functional space. It is the path that air follows to get in and out of the lungs. It includes three components. Structure: the size of the airway. Function: collapsibility of the airway, and behavior: breathing is a behavior that can be retrained.
The benefits of proper tongue rest position and nasal breathing are numerous. It allows proper oxygen-carbon dioxide exchange, permits air to be warmed, moistened, and cleansed before reaching the lungs, allows back pressure when one exhales, enabling the lungs more time to extract oxygen from them,
ensures proper sinus function, and helps guide jaws and facial development, leading to a more balanced and aesthetically pleasing face. Proper functional nasal breathing reduces hypertension and stress for most people and focuses on relaxation and quieting.
Functional breathing and myo-functional therapy go hand in hand. Our functional breathing programs are included with all our myo-functional therapies, and together they are a recipe for success. These programs are evaluated and designed individually, and the education and tools are provided according to the outcome of the evaluation, and the specific needs of the client.
As oxygen is essential to life, understanding the effects of dysfunctional breathing, and embarking on a journey for optimal breathing, only enhances better overall health, for people of all ages.
The illustration below, put out by the Breathe Institute illustrates the many detrimental effects of mouth breathing.
The good news is that many of these disorders can be addressed through an evolving field called MYOFUNCTIONAL Therapy. Let’s unpack that fancy word. MYO means muscles. Specifically, the muscles that allows us to breathe, chew and swallow. Functional means function. And therapy, which you know means the use of an intervention to improve function or form. So Myofunctional therapy is a form of therapy that is intended to optimize the function of the muscles of breathing, chewing and swallowing. The first step in determining if myofunctional therapy can help is to determine if there is a problem. Our team is specially trained to recognize the signs and symptoms of these disorders and are identified and discussed at our new patient intake exam. This is one of many reasons our exam is more comprehensive than what you are used to. What you choose to do with that information is up to you but often dental treatments can have detrimental effects on these functional patterns.
Identification of these disorders is only part of the solution. Fortunately, we now have a specifically trained Myofunctional Therapist on our team.
MARIE. -She has trained with the most experienced and recognized therapists at the IAOM (International Association of Orofacial Myology). Marie is registered with the IAOM as a provider with Sydenham Family Dental. [email protected]. Marie is fully trained and has years of experience in functional orthodontics. She is uniquely qualified to assess the signs and symptoms of breathing, chewing and swallowing disorders and provide therapies in the form of exercises and tools to help optimize your breathing and function.
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