Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders | Montclair Speech Therapy

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What are Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy?

Therapy uses targeted exercises to train the muscles in the mouth, tongue, and face for proper breathing, oral resting posture, speech, and swallowing. The most commonly identified disorder in this category is the tongue thrust.

Montclair Speech Therapy’s team of therapists are well experienced and trained in this area.

This disorder involves the tongue moving forward incorrectly during speech and/or swallowing. This can cause the misalignment of teeth and contribute to inaccurate speech and swallowing patterns.

Typical Signs of Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders

Persistant mouth breathing
Incorrect tongue resting position
Improper swallowing patterns
Sleep disorders
Prolonged pacifier use and/or thumb/digit sucking

Our Approach to Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders

Specialized Therapy

Our team of expert Speech-Language
Pathologists uses a multi-dimensional,
child-centered approach.

Personalized Therapy Plans

We use a wide variety of techniques,
tailoring each session to the needs of
the individual child and family.

Play-Based Activities

Our experts develop and lead engaging,
facilitative language environments that
include play and family training.

Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders FAQs

Several factors may contribute, such as prolonged thumb or finger sucking, nail-biting, pacifier use, tongue-tie, enlarged tonsils, or nasal airway blockages. Allergies and hereditary predispositions may also play a role.

Therapists will employ specific exercises to re-educate, strengthen, and normalize the muscles of the mouth, tongue, lips and face. Our therapists are part of the multidisciplinary care team involved in pre/post-operative education when release of tethered oral tissue (TOTS) is indicated.