Myofunctional Therapy

Discover personalized, exercise-based therapy that supports your child’s breathing, oral function, and overall development through gentle, targeted care.

What is Myofunctional Therapy?

Myofunctional therapy is a specialized, exercise-based approach that focuses on the muscles of the face, mouth, and tongue. It helps improve strength, coordination, and function to support breathing, speech, feeding, and overall oral health.

Understanding OMD

An Orofacial Myofunctional Disorder (OMD) occurs when the muscles of the face, mouth, and tongue are not working as they should. This can lead to patterns like mouth breathing, tongue thrust, or improper oral rest posture, which may impact speech, chewing, dental development, and sleep.

Who is it for?

Myofunctional therapy is typically recommended for children starting around age 4 through adolescence and beyond. Younger children may benefit from feeding therapy or pediatric specialist support before beginning myofunctional exercises.

What does it help with?

This therapy addresses common patterns such as mouth breathing, tongue thrust, and low tongue posture. By retraining these patterns, it supports clearer speech, better feeding skills, improved dental alignment, and healthier breathing and sleep.

Sadie Fullam conducting a speech language therapy session with two children, focusing on developing communication and social skills.

What We Offer

Support for oral function starts with understanding the whole child. Myofunctional Therapy addresses breathing, oral habits, and muscle coordination to improve speech, feeding, and overall health helping your child build lasting, functional skills.

Comprehensive Evaluation

We begin with a detailed assessment of breathing, oral rest posture, swallowing patterns, speech, and oral habits.

Individualized Treatment Plan

Each plan is tailored to your child’s age, needs, and goals for meaningful progress.

Muscle Coordination Therapy

Targeted exercises strengthen and improve coordination of the tongue, lips, and jaw.

Breathing Retraining

We support a shift to healthy nasal breathing patterns for better overall function.

Oral Rest Posture Training

Guidance to establish proper tongue, lip, and jaw positioning at rest.

Swallow Pattern Retraining

Therapy helps eliminate tongue thrust and develop correct swallowing patterns.

Habit Elimination Support

We address habits like thumb sucking, prolonged pacifier use, and nail biting.

Home Practice Coaching

Simple daily exercises help build consistency and long-term success.

Team Collaboration

We work with orthodontists, dentists, ENTs, and other providers to support your child’s care.

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Recognizing Your Child’s Challenges

Everyday signs that something may not be quite right with breathing, speech, or oral habits.

BREATHING

Always Breathing Through the Mouth

You may notice your child keeps their mouth open at rest, even during sleep or quiet play. Mouth breathing can affect sleep quality, focus, and overall development.

Mother supporting her young child showing signs of delayed speech and language development during a therapy session.

Mother helping her son who is struggling to understand and follow directions, illustrating a common speech and language challenge.

FUNCTION

Speech and Swallowing Seeming Off

Your child may push their tongue forward when talking or swallowing, or have speech that sounds unclear despite practice and growth.

HABITS

Lingering Habits & Low Tongue Posture

Thumb sucking, pacifier use, or a tongue that rests low in the mouth can continue longer than expected and begin to affect how the mouth and face develop.