Orofacial Myology or Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy compliments speech-language therapy as it focuses on the correction and elimination of behaviors and patterns created by inappropriate muscle function and habits involving the tongue, lips, jaw and face. These behaviors and patterns effect the development of speech and feeding skills. Some of the behaviors and muscle patterns Orofacial Myology remediates may include one or a combination of the following:
- Thumb and finger sucking habits
- A routine habit of resting with the lips apart
- A forward resting posture of the tongue between or against the teeth
- Tongue Thrust
- Other harmful oral habits
Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy involves an individualized program to help the patient retrain adaptive patterns of muscle function, and to create and maintain a healthy orofacial environment. Treatment goals may include the following:
- Normalize tongue and lip resting postures
- Establish nasal breathing patterns
- Eliminate improper chewing and swallowing patterns
- Stabilize the dentition from extraneous orofacial muscle movement
- Address harmful oral habits including:
- Prolonged pacifier use
- Thumb and/or finger sucking
- Fingernail, cheek, or lip biting
- Tongue sucking
- Clenching or grinding of the teeth