Orofacial myofunctional disorders are atypical, adaptive patterns that interfere with normal growth, development, or function of the orofacial structures. These disorders can impact eating, swallowing, speaking, and breathing.

Signs and Symptoms: 

• Open mouth posture (e.g., habitual lips-apart resting posture) 
• Abnormal tongue posture at rest or during active speech (e.g., tongue thrust) 
• Structural abnormalities (e.g., restricted lingual frenulum, dental misalignments such as underbite)
• Nonnutritive sucking habits (e.g., prolonged pacifier use, extended thumb sucking)
• Airway incompetency due to nasal obstructions (e.g., enlarged tonsils or adenoids causing snoring or sleep breathing issues)
• Poor oral control (e.g., drooling, specifically past the age of 2 years old) 
• Speech sound distortions (e.g., interdental lisp)

At One Speech Therapy, our licensed speech-language pathologists and orofacial myofunctional therapists are trained to address and treat OMDs. We create individualized therapy plans to retrain adaptive patterns of muscle function and focus on maintaining a healthy orofacial environment, while improving eating, swallowing, speaking, and breathing habits. Our myofunctional therapy services focus on establishing a patent nasal airway, correcting resting tongue and lip posture, improving oral placement for accurate speech sound production and swallowing, and supporting habit elimination for behaviors such as thumb-sucking. We emphasize collaboration with an interdisciplinary healthcare team, including dentists, orthodontists, and ENTs, to ensure comprehensive care tailored to your child’s unique needs.