Are you concerned about your child’s facial movement patterns?
What is Orofacial Myology?
Orofacial Myology is the study of the oral and facial muscles in relation to their movement patterns for daily life. The muscles of the face, the lips, the tongue and the jaw should move in a way that supports healthy breathing, eating, speaking and swallowing.
Myofunctional Disorders
Poor movement patterns are collectively known as myofunctional disorders and may be identified as:
- mouth breathing,
- difficulty with speech, eating and/or swallowing,
- orofacial pain,
- orthodontic problems and
- sleep disordered breathing.
Myofunctional Therapy
This is the application of exercise-based training and techniques that can be applied by health professionals that have an underpinning knowledge of human biology and physiology directly with the head, face, mouth and throat. Myofunctional therapy is not a qualification but rather a modality that existing health professionals can apply within their existing scope of practice.
Top indicators of orofacial myofunctional disorders:
- Slow speech therapy progress
- Poor sleepers
- Mouth breathing
- Behavioural issues
- Tongue thrust
- Messy or fussy eater
- Tongue tie
- Drooling
- Thumb / dummy suckers
- High arched, narrow palate
- Issues with dentition & malocclusion
Interdisciplinary collaboration
OM need to work collaboratively with other professionals:
Speech Pathologists
Sleep physicians
Dentists
GPs
Orthodontists
Chiropractors
ENTs
Osteopaths
Allergists
