What is myofunctional training?
Did you know that your jaw is connected by two of the most complex joints in your body? Your temporomandibular joints have to be complex to allow your jaws to move in so many directions: up and down, side to side, and forward and back. This complexity extends to how connected they are to the other muscles and joints in your head, neck, shoulders, and back. When something is wrong with the muscles or joints of your jaw, it can cause problems in these areas as well. The good news is that fixing a problem with your jaws can have a ripple effect, improving a range of symptoms you may not have realized were related! This is where myofunctional training, also called myofunctional therapy, comes in.
Myofunctional training can be used alongside orthodontic treatment or by itself, and consists of simple, painless exercises that retrain the muscles of your jaw, face, and tongue to function the way they’re meant to. For some people, this type of treatment is an essential part of resolving a misaligned jaw and improving the way they feel every day. If you’ve never heard of it before, however, you might not know exactly how it can help you. Here are a few ways that myofunctional training can benefit you.
Myofunctional training helps you gain proper oral posture.
We’ve all heard of having proper posture for our backs, but did you know that there’s a proper posture for your tongue and jaws, too? When your jaw is relaxed, your lips should be closed and your tongue should rest against the palate at the roof of your mouth. Poor oral posture, however, involves the tongue resting against your teeth and may cause your lips to remain parted when they’re relaxed. This may sound minor, but the constant pressure of your tongue against your teeth can cause your teeth to shift, angling outward over time. It can also cause a tongue thrust, which is when you swallow improperly, pressing your tongue against or between your teeth instead of against the roof of your mouth. If poor oral posture isn’t addressed in tandem with orthodontic treatment, it can continue shifting your teeth even after you’ve straightened them.
Thankfully, myofunctional training provides a simple, easy solution! It strengthens the muscles in your face and tongue and trains them to automatically assume the proper position. This eliminates the pressure of your tongue against your teeth, stopping it from shifting them further. Not everyone who needs orthodontic treatment needs myofunctional therapy, but it can be an essential part of ensuring that some people can maintain their straight, even smile.
It can help children’s teeth develop normally.
In young children, poor oral posture and tongue thrust can prevent teeth from erupting properly—or at all—where the tongue rests. This can contribute to severely crooked or misaligned teeth and can create an open bite, which is when the teeth cannot physically come together to bite down on something. Once severe issues like this develop, they often need more involved orthodontic treatment to repair. Detecting poor oral posture or tongue thrust early and having your child undergo myofunctional therapy can minimize or prevent these effects. Your child’s teeth will develop more normally, and they’ll likely need less severe orthodontic treatment for a shorter period of time. This is better for your child’s oral health and will likely save you money in the long run!
Myofunctional training can prevent or relieve TMJ symptoms.
When the muscles in your face and jaws are weak, it can put added stress on your jaws and cause you to clench or grind your teeth. It’s not uncommon for people to do this in their sleep without even realizing it, but the extra strain risks dental injuries and can lead to temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD). TMD has a range of symptoms, including chronic jaw and muscle pain in your face, neck, shoulders, and back. It can also cause you to develop a frequent TMJ headache or migraine and can make it hard to get a good night’s sleep.
Myofunctional therapy strengthens the muscles in your face and jaw, especially when particular attention is given to exercises that are designed to curb or eliminate bruxism and other TMJ symptoms. These exercises give the targeted muscles the strength they need to function normally, which relieves tension and muscle strain in your jaw and the surrounding muscles. The result is often an improvement or elimination of TMJ symptoms, allowing you to live pain-free again.
It relieves gastrointestinal issues.
It might sound strange, but myofunctional therapy can actually relieve gastrointestinal issues like stomachaches and acid reflux! How does it manage this when your jaws are so far removed from your stomach? The answer is that your digestive system doesn’t begin in your stomach or your esophagus—it begins in your mouth! The chewing process is an essential part of digestion, but orthodontic issues from poor oral posture or TMJ pain can make it difficult.
Food that isn’t chewed enough is harder to digest, leading to gastrointestinal issues. Tongue thrusts can also cause stomachaches by causing you to swallow air. By resolving poor oral posture and tongue ties to assist in resolving orthodontic issues like misaligned bites, myofunctional therapy makes it easy and painless to chew your food properly again. Not only does this make eating easy and enjoyable once more, but it makes digestion easier too. You’ll be able to sit back and enjoy the comfortable feeling of a full stomach again!
Myofunctional training can improve sleep apnea and other breathing issues.
Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when the airway narrows or is obstructed during the night, often due to weak muscles in the throat, mouth, and tongue. These muscles can relax too much when you fall asleep, collapsing or falling back to block your airway. Misaligned bites can also be a contributing factor to sleep apnea symptoms by causing your jaw to relax in a position that further narrows your airway. Myofunctional therapy can help in both of these cases! It strengthens the muscles in your throat, mouth, and tongue to prevent them from collapsing or falling backward while you sleep, and helps you develop good oral posture. When necessary, it also works with orthodontic treatment to resolve a misaligned bite or other orthodontic issues permanently, moving your jaw into a position that naturally keeps your airway more open.
Myofunctional therapy may not eliminate your sleep apnea entirely, but it should decrease its severity and reduce your symptoms, helping you sleep better and giving you more energy during the day. Even if you don’t have sleep apnea, myofunctional therapy can reduce or eliminate snoring at night—which your partner will be eternally grateful for! Myofunctional therapy can also resolve mouth breathing, which can result from an improper oral posture. Developing the habit and muscle strength to breathe through your nose will help relieve dry mouth and improve your oral health while allowing the natural filtration system in your nose that traps small particles before you can breathe them into your lungs to work.
Although myofunctional therapy is simple, easy, and inexpensive, it has the potential to make a huge difference in your daily life. These exercises can relieve a wide range of symptoms and ensure that your teeth remain straight, even, and healthy after you’ve undergone orthodontic treatment. If you’d like to learn more about myofunctional therapy and how it could help you, feel free to call and schedule an appointment at any time!