How Shallow Breathing Affects the Body How shallow breathing affects the whole body and for many, this type of breathing is becoming a habit that needs to be addressed. Have you ever watched a new born baby breathe? They naturally breath through the nose, filling the lungs. You can see the belly expend and the chest rise as they inhale […]
Read more ›Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome (UARS) is a condition that was first recorded at Stanford University. Similar to obstructive sleep apnea, the soft tissue of the throat relaxes, reducing the size of the airway which momentarily cuts off breathing. The body senses that it’s not getting the required oxygen and will react by “arousing” the body. These disturbances […]
Read more ›Buteyko Breathing or Breath Re-education Buteyko Breathing or breath re-education was developed by a Soviet doctor named Konstantin Pavlovich Buteyko. The Buteyko method emphasizes the importance of nasal breathing. Healthy breathing should be natural, silent and through the nose. Yes, the nose was designed and put on your face for a reason. As a dental hygienist and oral myofunction therapist, one […]
Read more ›Can Myofunctional Therapy Be Done Remotely? Can Myofunctional Therapy be done remotely during COVID? The answer is “yes”! Many therapists are using teleconferencing, ZOOM or FaceTime to give their patients an alternative way to attend therapy. Here are some tips to setting up tactile therapies: Make sure that your patient understands the platform; Zoom, Skype etc. and the tech part […]
Read more ›Functional Frenuloplasty for a Tongue-Tie Functional Frenuloplasty for a tongue-tie for a full recovery. What is a tongue-tie and why it should be treated? Tongue-tie or Ankloglossia, although often not diagnosed, is a condition present at birth. It’s when the band of tissue, called the lingual frenum, is either too thick or too short, restricting the range of motion and […]
Read more ›Myofunctional Therapy for Children Myofunctional Therapy for children because the first steps are the most important. Imagine building a skyscraper on an unstable foundation or starting a garden without first preparing the soil. A bad start seriously affects the later work. But if it’s a good, solid start everything that follows is natural and easy. The same holds true for oral […]
Read more ›Benefits of Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy (OMT) The benefits of Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy (OMT) are many faceted. If you are among the millions who suffer from sleep apnea, bruxism, TMJ, malocclusion or any number of disorders and are looking for treatment, you may have stumbled across the term Myofunctional Therapy. The broad goals of OMT are to modify behaviors, stop parafunctional […]
Read more ›Orofacial Myofunctional Exercises Orafacial Myofunctional exercises are designed to help strengthen the extrinsic and intrinsic muscles of the check and tongue, including those around the mouth and lips. Specific tongue exercises will improve how a person can swallow with the end goal being to train the tongue to move upwards in a wave-like motion, connecting with the palate, while keeping […]
Read more ›This post is the fifth in a series on tongue thrust and how myofunctional therapy can help treat it. If you haven’t read parts 1-4 yet, I recommend you do before continuing. Diagnosing and treating tongue thrust with myofunctional therapy The consequences of tongue thrust are far reaching and can be quite serious. Fortunately, the majority of these cases can […]
Read more ›This post is the fourth in a series on tongue thrust and how myofunctional therapy can help treat it. If you haven’t read parts 1-3 yet, I recommend you do before continuing. Symptoms of tongue thrust (continued) Furthermore, all of the air flowing through the mouths of mouth breathers causes their saliva to dry. As saliva dries it becomes more […]
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