Myofunctional Therapy

Your Madison dental office is now able to offer Myofunctional Therapy, a natural practice that works with the muscles of the lips, tongue, cheeks and face to help prevent, evaluate, and treat a number of different oral health issues.

Myofunctional Therapy uses neuromuscular re-patterning in order to create new habits in breathing, swallowing, and how our muscles function at rest.

If you think about it, when your muscles are moving in harmony, the jaw can develop properly and create plenty of space for adult teeth. When they’re not moving in harmony, that’s when problems like crooked teeth, obstructed breathing, and even TMJ disorders develop. By creating new habits now through natural movements, new habits, and sleep appliances, problems can be avoided without surgery. It may even eliminate the need for braces! This therapeutic method can also be used to correct problems that may have developed as a result of improper muscle function, such as muscle imbalance, orthodontic relapse, and more.

Sleep Disordered Breathing

Have you ever noticed that your child snores? Or perhaps grinds their teeth while sleeping? Do you catch them breathing through their mouth during the day instead of through their nose? Has their behavior become more aggressive? Believe it or not, all of these are symptoms of Sleep Disordered Breathing – a condition where the air flowing through the nose is obstructed during sleep.

The key to Sleep Disordered Breathing is the development of jaw muscles and their outlying structures. When children have underdeveloped faces or jaws, it can lead to poor habits like mouth breathing or poor breathing in general. If your child has limited breathing capabilities, it will drastically affect the quality of their sleep. Some symptoms of poor breathing while sleeping include:

• • Snoring
  • Headaches
  • Teeth Grinding
  • Mood Swings
  • Difficulty Concentrating
  • Crooked Teeth

Think about how you feel when you have been sleeping badly. Now imagine that feeling being a long-term, chronic condition. Evidence has found that children with sleep disordered breathing are more likely to have behavioral issues, decreased cognitive development, and even ADHD-like symptoms.

Here are some more symptoms that may suggest sleep disordered breathing:

• Difficulty falling asleep or waking up in the morning
• Restless sleep or waking up frequently during the night
• Bedwetting
• Night terrors
• Swollen adenoids and tonsils
• Chronic allergies
• Dark circles under their eyes
• Hyperactivity

What Else Can Myofunctional Therapy Treat?

Myofunctional Therapy can also help with things like tongue-tie, when a tiny piece of tissue is present at the bottom of the tongue, restricting movement. While this doesn’t sound like a big deal, it can drastically affect the way the tongue functions, including swallowing, chewing and talking. This can result in health problems such as acid reflux and sleep apnea. Speaking of tongues, there’s also tongue thrust – a condition where the tongue is pushed against or between the teeth during swallowing. All of that pressure on the teeth can push them apart and lead to a bad bite.

Myofunctional Therapy can also assist with situations like:

• Facial Trauma
• Open bite due to thumb sucking
• Relapses after the removal of braces
• TMD issues

Because this practice is so innovative, we are the only dental office in the area providing Myofunctional Therapy by an Oral Myofunctional Therapist. Courtney Mathews brings to the practice her experience helping patients of all ages develop better breathing habits. Inspired by the possibilities of this natural, homeopathic method of treatment she has named her area of expertise Inspire at Rivertown.

How Can I Get Started?

Courtney is scheduling consultations so that you can find out more about Myofunctional Therapy and whether it might be the key to solving a variety of oral health problems. We also invite you to join our new Facebook group, designed to educate and inform our Madison families on children’s sleep conditions that may have gone undiagnosed. Check out https://www.facebook.com/groups/inspiremadison/ today.