WHAT IS OMFT?  (ORAL MYOFUNCTIONAL THERAPY)

Therapy offering therapeutic exercises aimed at restoring the disturbed balance of work of the oral muscles.

 Harmful habits cause an imbalance between the oro-facial muscles, which in turn can lead to changes in the face and morphology.

 For example, harmful oral habits, including mouth breathing, thumb sucking, etc., combined with improper swallowing can lead to protrusion of the upper jaw. The tongue pushes the teeth forward, and the lips, which do not close during mouth breathing, offer no resistance.

Incorrect use of the muscles and the lack of back pressure in this case leads to a different shape of the jaws and / or teeth. There is a functional malocclusion on the face. If we want to restore balance, it is obvious that the function of the muscles involved must first be changed.

Therefore, a multidisciplinary approach is needed for a long-lasting result. Dentists and orthodontists are concerned with the shape and morphological abnormalities of the teeth, and speech therapists are concerned with the function of the oro-facial muscles.

A speech therapist plays an important role in muscle recovery

Dentists and orthodontists who treat children are responsible for recognizing the relationship between abnormal muscle function and abnormal morphology and occlusion and before starting any intervention to first ensure that they have restored proper muscle movements in the orofacial region.

It is recommended that they refer the patient to a speech therapist (see NMT Guidelines for Oral Care for Young People). The speech therapist plays an important role in restoring the disturbed balance in the functioning of the muscles of the orofacial complex. Speech therapy affects harmful habits (thumb, finger, pacifier sucking, mouth breathing, incorrect swallowing pattern, incorrect tongue position, pushing with the tongue and incorrect chewing habits). Very often these harmful habits also affect speech.

The speech therapist works with objective measurement tools, such as the force scale (lip force meter), Payne's technique (visualization of the swallowing pattern using a fluorescent technique) and myoscanner (measurement of the muscles of the lips, tongue and masticator). Early recognition and treatment of harmful oral habits and incorrect swallowing patterns are of great importance for stable occlusion.