to preventing Orofacial myofunctional disorders is to be intuitive and aware of your own or your child’s body and health. If you need help with any of the following, an effective programme can be created for you.

This is a group of habits that occur because of habit or anxiety but interfere with the growth development of the mouth. Thumbs, fingers, pacifiers, blankets and toys, tongues and cheeks can all be sucked on and interrupt how the body grows. They will keep the tongue low on the floor of the mouth instead of the roof and keep the mouth open; the palate will form high, and thus the floor of the nose will be high too; the teeth will be unable to grow naturally, so you will see teeth becoming crooked and out of alignment; the lower jaw will be underdeveloped. I will work with you or your child to stop the habit and set a few tasks out, and as long as you are ready to quit, it can be achieved, and orofacial myofunctional therapy can begin to aid the muscles of the face and mouth back into perfect symmetry with the body.Are the muscles of the face and mouth working correctly whilst eating, talking, swallowing and breathing? So, is the tongue on the roof of the mouth as it naturally should be or on the floor where it cannot guide the growth of the palate and teeth? Are the lips together when not in use or apart? Do you eat slowly until the food is almost liquid or quickly chew and swallow semi-chewed chunks? Do you use both sides of the face equally? For example, when chewing, is it on both sides?

Is breathing occurring through the nose and NOT the mouth during the day and night? Do you practice good nasal care in order to breathe nasally? Our mouth is not for breathing unless it’s an emergency, yet many do this or are mixed nose and mouth breathers. There are lots of reasons for it, too: rhinitis, colds, habit, etc. But taking nose care seriously can lead to a better quality of life generally, too.

Is the diet creating a stimulation of chewing that encourages growth in the teeth and bone for children and adults? Soft foods do not encourage the bone to resorb and remodel as it natural should do so we need to maintain that challenge for ourselves. A case of if you don’t use it, you lose it and this is very much the case of babies too. So, an infant chewing on a cold hard carrot will not only taste pleasant and have a cooling effect if they are teething but encourage their jaws and teeth to grow well.

Any non-nutritive sucking habits? Stop them as soon as you can because prevention is better than cure. This will mean the tongue learns to reside on the floor of the mouth, and there will be occlusion problems later. Nail-biting can cause issues in the TMJ, too, leading to disorders over a period of time.

Being aware of oromyofunctional disorders may well prevent them from occurring; however, I am ready to give advice and help if you need me.

Discover if orofacial myology therapy is right for you

Recently published resources