Welcome! Thanks for coming on this journey!
So you’ve probably resonated with some of the symptoms I have shared... And now you're wondering, what next? Can these actually be fixed by retraining my muscles & tongue?
I want to deep dive into these symptoms & explain how myofunctional disorders affects them, so you can better understand your body! This is also going to give you some insight if myofunctional therapy is going to be for you!
But first, I’d love to tell you my story & how MY life was changed!
I’m Fayth, a registered dental hygienist & certified myofunctional therapist!
Growing up, I always struggled with ear infections, tonsil & adenoid inflammation, constantly sick, speech, picky eating, sleep issues, body tension, orthodontic issues such as crowding & overbite/overjet, mouth breathing, and my nervous system being all out of whack (big feelings that turned to stress & anxiety in adulthood).
Many of these symptoms I didn't even notice because I had gone my whole life with them, until they were gone. That's when I realized the power of myofunctional therapy. Committing myself to the process and seeking referrals all seemed daunting at first, but looking back, it was absolutely worth the results I achieved.
Now I am the healthiest I have ever been - because my nose is finally filtering my air (something my mouth has never done), and I’m hitting my rest & repair sleep phases.
I strongly believe that we have the ability to avoid many chronic diseases by fixing our breathing & myofunctional disorders. I see patients all the time in my dental chair that are struggling with all these symptoms, and just keep getting sicker. If I have even the smallest chance to improve my quality of life for my future self, I’m going to take it! I also strongly believe in listening to our bodies & finding the root cause, instead of covering our symptoms with medications.
I hope this story brings you some comfort that you are not alone, and I can't wait to help change lives!
Headaches & Migraines
The most common factors are clenching, grinding your teeth and the imbalance of muscles working together to open/close and articulate the jaw. When these jaw muscles are so tense, this pain can travel and cause a headache or migraine. This can also cause a lot of pain in the TMJ & facial muscles! These muscles have to be retrained to a proper resting oral state in order to find relief. Myofunctional therapy targets correcting the tongue posture & not having other muscle compensations when in this position!
Clenching & Grinding
A common cause that you’ve heard many times is stress. BUT, this isn’t entirely the case. It can often be happening due to an airway obstruction, unbalanced oral bite or restriction in the tongue. First of all, an airway obstruction can be linked to dysfunction or development of the soft tissues, such as enlarged tonsils/adenoids, the tongue strength, control and posture & the soft palate.
When we don’t have proper oral control and posture, the tongue can relax & fall into the airway causing limited space. Sometimes this will go hand in hand with mouth breathing, since this causes less oxygen from the exchange & the tongue & jaw causing obstruction from their positioning. And what happens when we mouth breathe - our nervous system goes into fight or flight mode (AKA, stress!), so no wonder we associate clenching & grinding with stress!
Myofunctional therapy will be addressing both the oral posture to get that tongue out of the airway, and also nasal breathing to bring us out of fight or flight mode.
Sleep
This was one of my biggest pain points! When we have airway obstructions & mouth breathing, we will not fall into our deep, restorative sleep cycles that we need to feel well rested.
Our body will recognize that we are oxygen deficient, and wake us up from those cycles to make sure we are bringing in oxygen. This is actually our bodies trying to keep us alive. I know right, very smart of us! But unfortunately, it won't give us a good sleep.
Nasal breathing holds the key to unlocking deep and restorative sleep cycles. By ensuring proper tongue posture, we can prevent obstructions that disrupt this crucial process. Some of the key indicators of mouth breathing or obstruction is snoring, sleep apnea, dry mouth when you wake, waking to use the bathroom, bad breath, brain fog & feeling tired when you wake still.
Neck & Shoulder Tension
To explain neck & shoulder tension, I’m going to first dive into forward head posture. When we have an airway obstruction (poor tongue posture or mouth breathing, as we chatted about earlier), our body is going to find ways to open that airway as best as it can.
One of our mechanisms for this is bringing the head forward to give more space in the airway. We can notice this when the ears are not in parallel alignment with the middle of the shoulders, or the shoulders are rolled inwards. This forward position is going to cause an imbalance for our body, and strain our neck, shoulder & back muscles.
Additionally, a tongue restriction can cause tension throughout our fascia (connective tissue), which runs all the way down to our toes!
Speech
This is the common association with tongue ties. The tongue tie can restrict the tongue, which won't allow for proper movement for pronouncing certain sounds! Myofunctional therapy does not replace speech therapy, but sometimes correcting the tongue function can help with sounds. Some of the sounds we may hear trouble with are:
“T”, “D”, “N” & “L” sounds require the tip of the tongue to the spot (an area on the upper palate right behind the front teeth - without touching the teeth).
“R” sounds require the middle of the tongue to lift to the palate, so we commonly see problems with this sound when associated with a tongue tie.
“B”, “M” & “P” sounds need the lips to close, which can be difficult when there is low muscle tone in the lips or structural issues (development or a lip tie).
“S” lisp can indicate low tongue posture & tone, if the tongue thrusts against/between the front teeth, it will create a “th” sound, and if the tongue thrusts against/between the back teeth, it will create a slushy sounding “s”.
Digestion
Some digestion issues that can happen with myofunctional disorders are GERD, LPR (laryngopharyngeal reflux), bloating, gas, burping or IBS. These issues can be happening from aerophagia, from over breathing & gulping air.
The reflux issues can also happen from incorrect swallow patterns & oral posture! Acid reflux can be associated with sleep apnea as well, which has to do with an obstruction causing a vacuum effect in the throat, causing acid to come up and irritate.
While sometimes a more comprehensive assessment can be done with a speech pathologist, myofunctional therapy will take aim at correcting swallow patterns to alleviate issues like air gulping and poor oral posture. This can help mitigate obstructions that contribute to the vacuum effect during swallowing.
Ear Problems/
Infections
I had multiple surgeries as a kid for tubes in ears, and constantly had hearing issues. I later found out the connection between the tongue function and the ears! During proper swallow, the tongue creates a pressure which should stimulate the Eustachian tubes in children to help the tubes within the ears to drain any built up fluid.
As adults, this doesn't need to happen as much since the tubes fully develop & gravity helps them drain (hence the reduction of the ear infections). When these tubes are not draining, they can build up fluid causing dizziness, hearing difficulties, pressure and could become infected.
With my tongue tie, I was never able to activate the middle of my tongue to perform a proper swallow and this stopped me from being able to drain this fluid naturally! P.S. there doesn't have to be a tongue restriction to experience this, it can also result from a poorly developed muscle connection, severe congestion, or other factors.
Development
Tongue posture & mouth breathing REALLY influence overall development and health. When the tongue does not support the upper palate through growth, the jaw isn't going to widen enough for our teeth & the floor of our sinuses. Things start to grow long & backwards instead of forward & wide. Developmentally, this results in a shorter mid face appearance, and eventually a drop in the nose (which could cause a bump, crooked nose or even deviated septum).
Without proper room in our jaws for the teeth, we get crowding & no room for our wisdom teeth to come in. This can also cause a position of the jaw that isn't favourable, which can lead to clenching & grinding, as well as TMJ issues.
Another thing that can happen to the teeth with myofunctional disorders is a tongue thrust swallow pattern. This is when the tongue pushes the front or back teeth during our swallowing. If the tongue is pushing the front teeth, it can cause the top teeth to flare out & an opening to start forming between the front teeth (open bite). If the tongue pushes the back teeth during swallowing, we often see an overbite happening (when the top front teeth overlap & cover the front bottom teeth).
These are all reasons why your teeth have shifted after you've had braces! The original problem was never addressed. There’s also lots of effects from mouth breathing during development. This negatively impacts the immune system, posture, mood, brain development, and overall growth. Remember, mouth breathing affects the quality of sleep, and without it, development will be altered.
Cavities Risk/
Extensive Dental Work
We see a higher cavities risk in people that have myofunctional disorders for a few reasons. First, is if the tongue is not functioning properly or is restricted because this may not be able to cleanse the teeth from food debris. The other reason is mouth breathing & drying the oral cavity. Not having this saliva to cleanse & regulate the pH is going to cause a HUGE cavities risk.
A lot of patients I see can be doing everything for their oral hygiene but still getting cavities, and this is usually a big reason why. Extensive dental work can sometimes be seen as well, like crowns or chipping of the teeth due to clenching & grinding.
Goals of Myofunctional Therapy
Correct tongue posture
Nasal breathing
Lip seal
Correct swallow pattern
Myofunctional disorders can be the root cause of these symptoms, but throughout a therapy program, we are working towards achieving 4 main goals.
If additional support is needed for you to achieve your specific goals, I will make recommendations!
So... I’ve caught your attention
Now after reading some of the symptoms & pain points behind myofunctional disorders, you may be wondering where the heck to start.
STEP 1 is really awareness. When you start listening to your body, you are going to start noticing these things and how they might all be connected. You’re also going to want to start doing check ins for your oral posture & breathing. This is going to start giving you an idea of your habits when you aren't paying attention (since it can be so hard to think about what we do when we’re focused on that!)
STEP 2 is going to be starting your path to healthy, nasal breathing (if you haven't already). Figure out your comfort levels! Try engaging in physical activity with nasal breathing, and focus on shifting your breath into your belly instead of your shoulders. This is how you are also going to tell if you will need some external support. How easy/hard is it to maintain nasal breathing? Are you feeling congested often?
STEP 3 is getting a comprehensive myofunctional evaluation. Now that you've got a baseline on where you are at, and notice your roadblocks we can get to working on shaping your habits & toning the muscles needed. Trust me, it’s normal no matter how hard you try or focus on it, your subconscious habits are going to take over and revert to what you've been doing all your life. Myofunctional therapy is going to get you out of that rut & be able to achieve your goals!