14 Mar What is Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy (OMT) and How Can it Help?

Posted at 08:49h in Speech by
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To understand what Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy is and how it might help, we need to know what orofacial myofunctional disorders, or OMDs, are. OMDs are disorders that affect the muscles and function of the face and mouth, which are used for eating, talking and breathing. Some signs of an OMD include:

  • Tongue thrust
  • Lisps and other speech sound errors
  • Trouble swallowing or messy eating
  • Snoring and difficulty breathing
  • A dental malocclusion (overbite, underbite) or other dental issues

 

What Causes OMDs?

There is no one cause of OMDs, but they often develop when a person is unable to breath through their nose regularly and instead breathes through their mouth. OMDs can also be caused by sucking and chewing past age 3, or anything else that causes the tongue or lips to rest in an abnormal or misplaced manner such as genetics or structural abnormalities. Any of these can lead to maladaptive behaviors, meaning the muscles and function of the face adapt to the abnormal breathing or placement patterns and work differently than they would typically, which over time causes an OMD to develop.

 

Do I Have an OMD?

To know if you have an orofacial myofunctional disorder, you need to get a professional assessment. Dentists, orthodontists, doctors, and speech-language pathologists can diagnose OMDs, depending on the symptoms. Each professional looks for different signs and symptoms. A dentist/orthodontist will look to see how the teeth are aligned and how the jaw functions; a doctor may assess breathing and test for allergies; and a speech-language pathologist will assess swallowing, breathing, and speech.

 

If you find out you have an OMD, you will need orofacial myofunctional therapy (OMT) to help correct the problem and improve your quality of life.

 

Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy

Orofacial Myofunctional therapy, or simply OMT, is a type of therapy that helps with orofacial myofunctional disorders. You will be given painless exercises to activate specific muscles of the face to improve overall functioning and coordination of the tongue and facial muscles. This can improve swallowing, articulation of speech sounds, and teach you new breathing patterns. Just like when learning anything new, these exercises need to be practiced regularly to see improvements over the course of (usually) 6-12 months.

 

It’s important to know that the most effective therapy is multidisciplinary, and often includes a speech-language pathologist or certified myofunctional therapist, as well as an orthodontist and/or doctor, depending on the symptoms. Each professional will help treat different things. For example, if your child has a tongue thrust, the orthodontist will correct any dental alignment issues, while the speech-language pathologist will work on correcting the tongue placement and speech sounds.

 

Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy may sound scary, but the exercises are generally simple and don’t take too much time to practice daily, and overtime you will see a great improvement in your or your child’s symptoms, which will have a positive lasting impact. If you are wondering whether you or your child has an OMD, reach out to your dentist, doctor or SLP today.

 

 

Helpful Links:

 

Written by: Naguine Duncan, M.A., CCC-SLP, bilingual certification

 

References:

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (n.d.). Orofacial myofunctional disorders. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Retrieved February 16, 2022, from https://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/orofacial-myofunctional-disorders/

Homem, M. A., Vieira-Andrade, R. G., Falci, S. G., Ramos-Jorge, M. L., & Marques, L. S. (2014). Effectiveness of orofacial myofunctional therapy in orthodontic patients: A systematic review. Dental Press Journal of Orthodontics, 19(4), 94–99. https://doi.org/10.1590/2176-9451.19.4.094-099.oar

MS, E. V. (2022, January 4). What is orofacial myofunctional therapy? TherapyWorks. Retrieved February 16, 2022, from https://therapyworks.com/blog/language-development/what-is-orofacial-myofunctional-therapy/#:~:text=Orofacial%20Myofunctional%20Therapy%20can%20include,top%20teeth%20as%20an%20exercise.

Tongue thrust therapy. Speech Therapy 101. (n.d.). Retrieved February 16, 2022, from https://speechtherapy101.com/myofunctional-therapy

What is Myofunctional Therapy? You are being redirected… (n.d.). Retrieved February 16, 2022, from https://aomtinfo.org/myofunctional-therapy/