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OM Therapy can provide support for patients with OMDs

Serving the Greater Philadelphia area

An OMD is an orofacial myofunctional disorder characterized by improper tongue, jaw and lip positioning during swallowing, feeding and speaking.

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How long does therapy take?

Therapy is individualized and focuses on tongue and facial resting postures, swallowing, and speech articulation. The best outcomes are achieved when prescribed exercises are practiced every day.

OM Therapy

Make the rest of your life the best of your life!

The human body is a wondrously complex combination of tissues, bones and chemicals. To keep this mechanical marvel operating at its best, the body needs to properly coordinate its functions. However, as with any complicated system, when an important function of the body is disrupted, problems develop.
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Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy

OMT includes behavior modification, mouth, face and tongue exercises and strategies to facilitate proper feeding, swallowing and oral rest tongue posture throughout the day.

Therapy Program

Orofacial myofunctional therapy is a program of specific exercises that target the facial muscles used to chew and swallow. These exercises strengthen the tongue.

Restore Your Confidence

With OMT, a patient can regain the joy of eating and speaking, and enjoy cosmetic improvements that help restore confidence and self-esteem.

OMDs affect people of all age.

Children, teenagers, and adults may suffer from Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders. OMDs may interfere with normal growth and development of the muscles and bones of the face and mouth. OMDs may also interfere with how the muscles of the face and mouth are used for eating, talking, and breathing. People who have an OMD may also have problems with talking, swallowing, and breathing through their nose. Some children push out their tongue when they talk, drink, or eat. This is called tongue thrusting and it is one type of OMD.

Signs of OMDs can include, but are not limited to the following:

Tongue Thrust

Thumb sucking, nail biting, object chewing, short lingual frenulum (tongue tie), pacifier sucking, open mouth rest posture, low muscle tone, tori (excess bone growth in the palate) and allergies are all possible reasons for someone to develop a tongue thrust (forward tongue posture during rest and or during the act of swallowing).

Open Mouth Breathing

Mouth breathing can particularly affect the growing face, as the abnormal pull of these muscle groups on facial bones slowly deforms these bones, causing misalignment. The earlier in life these changes take place, the greater the alterations in facial growth, and ultimately an open mouth posture is created where the upper lip is raised and the lower jaw is maintained in an open posture.

Tongue Tie

Many people I talk to think that the term “tongue tie” is just a figure of speech. They are always surprised to learn that it is actually a real medical condition which affects the oral and facial development and has a range of health consequences that may take years to manifest. A tongue tie or ankyloglossia is a restriction of mobility in the tongue. Under the tongue is a tissue called the lingual` frenum or frenulum. The lingual frenum attaches from the tongue to the floor of the mouth. If the frenum is short, it will limit the range of motion the tongue has.

Jaw/Head/Shoulder Pain

Your temporomandibular joint is a hinge that connects your jaw to the temporal bones of your skull, which are in front of each ear. It lets you move your jaw up and down and side to side, so you can talk, chew, and yawn.

Problems with your jaw and the muscles in your face that control it are known as temporomandibular disorders (TMD). But you may hear it wrongly called TMJ, after the joint.

Benefits of Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy

Breathe, Sleep, Live, Smile

The purpose of myofunctional therapy is to retrain the muscles and to obtain a normal resting posture of the tongue, lips and jaw.

Breathing
The approach to therapy emphasizes training in the correct resting postures of the tongue and lips all with the goal of facilitation proper nasal/diaphragm breathing. The nose’s primary function is inhaling oxygen, followed by filtering air, warming, and moisturizing it- this allows our body to get more usable oxygen which can have a profound impact on the growth and development of the face and airway.

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Better Sleep

Multiple studies have shown myofunctional therapy as a great way to address and help to treat sleep apnea.

Straightens Teeth

Performing the exercises trains the tongue and oral muscles to work properly, which encourages a wider dental arch, allowing room for teeth to straighten naturally.

Alleviate Jaw Pain

Myofunctional therapy exercises are a great option to help with jaw pain – they are non-invasive, require no dental appliances and can cause no harm.

Corrects Swallowing

A person swallows 500-1000 times per day, so incorrect swallowing can contribute to a number of problems.