Oral Motor Therapy is a highly specialized area of Speech Language Pathology. There are hundreds of difficulties that can be overcome by performing Oral Motor Therapy, some of them include a deviate swallow, tounge thrust, non-verbal communication, basic and complex feeding difficulties.
Myofunctional Therapy is a specifically prescribed regimen of exercises designed to correct orofacial muscle imbalance and deviate swallow patterns. It is instrumental in the elimination of various oral noxious habits and contributes to the overall improved facial appearance of an individual.
Myofunctional therapy treats orofacial muscle imbalance in such a way that, once corrected, the muscles will function appropriately with all interrelated body systems. It develops oral awareness, correction of misarticulated speech sounds, prevents orthodontic relapse of dentition, and improves the ability to eat and swallow correctly.
Individuals demonstrating the following problems are good candidates for Myofunctional Therapy; poor facial development and/or poor facial tone (mouth breathing); oral motor inadequacy related to speech awareness; protruding teeth; facial pain; recurring headaches with unknown etiology; thumb-sucking or tongue sucking; stomach discomfort and belching from air swallowing; limited eating skills and limited diet; difficulty swallowing pills and capsules; cleft lip and/or cleft palate; clenching and grinding of teeth; earaches with unknown etiology; and difficulty wearing dentures.
Orofacial muscle imbalance and a deviate swallow are diagnosed through a thorough examination which includes muscle measurement with a Force Scale, Myoscanner and the Payne Technique by a trained and qualified Myofunctional Therapist. Treatment may be appropriate for preschool to adult patients.
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