Myofunctional Therapy: It's Foundational to Health and Wellness

You've probably never heard of it.

I don't think it is an exaggeration to say that Myofunctional therapy is one of the most essential components to general health. Just because you have never heard of it does nothing to diminish it's foundational contribution to:

1. General Health

2. Facial Development

3. Behavioral health

4. Facial Esthetics

We need more myofunctional therapists but moreover we need more awareness as to the indispensable role they play in reversing so much that is wrong about our health and wellness.

Don’t expect our medical or dental institutions to ring this bell. We haven’t even learned to diagnose sleep apnea in 80% of the cases.

What is a myofunctional therapist?

A myofunctional therapist is committed to establishing (in children and adults):

1. Proper swallowing patterns

2. Proper tongue position at rest

3. Lips together posture at all times

4. Nasal breathing

A myofunctional therapist (OMT) trains people (children and adults) how to use their oral muscles properly, where to position their tongue at rest, how to swallow properly, and, above all, to breathe through your nose with lips together. If you don’t get these fundamentals right you will be at a great disadvantage in many areas of health and esthetics.

There is nothing more important than breathing ....and therefore breathing properly is paramount. Myofunctional therapists recognize the necessity of breathing exclusively through the nose. They recognize the importance of proper tongue posture to proper facial development and airway patency. They know that breathing through the nose brings about much higher oxygen saturation and breathing through the nose has anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal components due to Nitric Oxide (only released when breathing through the nose). They know that there are studies that people who contracted Covid were more likely to be mouth breathers. Simply put, you can't be fully healthy, both physically, mentally, and emotionally, if you are a chronic mouth breather. You are at a huge disadvantage. It's like thinking you can run just as fast in a race with sand bags attached to your waist.

Highly saturated oxygen is imperative. We can only get highly saturated oxygen if we breath through our noses. Think of how difficult it is to perform, think, move when you are at high altitude where there is plenty of "air" but low oxygen. Just ask the mountaineers how things improve when they put on their oxygen tanks and inhale rich oxygen. They become invigorated on all levels.

Know this: All other things being equal you will be a healthier person, more resistant to all diseases, more clear thinking, alert, focused, energetic, etc., if you are breathing through your nose, not your mouth.

Now, what if I told you that breathing through your nose, with your lips together, will not only make you healthier but it will enable your face to develop to it's proper potential. Your teeth will be much less likely to crowd (minimal to no orthodontics), your jaw structures will be proportional to one another as well as to the rest of your face. You will have optimal physiology as a result of nasal breathing with lips together and this means that your likelihood of TMJ/TMD problems and sleep apnea will be greatly reduced. Your face will look healthier and age better.....

Did you know that cancer likes low oxygen environments?

The most important nutrient to human survival is not food, it's not water (we can go days without H2O).....it is OXYGEN. Try going more than a minute without it. This is why it is so maddening than our health institutions are not properly focused on breathing and ....breathing exclusively through the nose, the only organ designed for breathing. The mouth is not the "back up" for breathing in the same way that the hands are "back ups" for walking. No animals breathe through their mouths and indigenous cultures always breathe through their noses. They align with the primal blueprint which is to breathe through the nose with lips together, breast feed, eat solid foods at a very early age (not processed, blended, pulverized and overcooked foods). Indigenous cultures do not eat processed foods and high levels of sugars. They aren't obese like the rest of us. They do not contract sleep apnea, TMJ, or diabetes. They have well developed jaws and they don't have crowded teeth that need mechanical wrenching to get them into place...why?, because when the tongue is in it's proper place (up against the roof of the mouth) the teeth do not crowd. The tongue is nature's orthodontic appliance and it is designed to keep the teeth in their proper position.

Indigenous cultures live according to the primal blueprint. We, the average American, live in opposition to the primal blueprint. Thus, every child gets braces, we have 38% obesity (the second highest country has 22%). We have very high incidences of type II diabetes, sleep apnea, and TMJ.

A myofunctional therapist's job is to correct the assault on the primal blueprint as it relates to facial development and breathing. They are tasked with picking up the pieces and developing, through incredibly valuable non invasive and effective protocols, proper oral posture and tongue position. if there are physical obstructions to proper nasal breathing they should be addressed by an ENT but a Myofunctional therapist will always be an integral part of this process.

Here is my advice to parents:

When you have children, as soon as you can (before the age of 3 if you can) take your child in to see an Ear/Nose/and Throat specialist (ENT) to see if your son or daughter has any obstruction AND then take your child to a Myofunctional therapist. You should, in my STRONG opinion see these specialists prophylactically (as a preventative). If all parents did this your children would be healthier, be more attentive, less fatigued, have better facial growth, be less likely to need braces, etc.....

This is foundational! Yes, take them to the eye doctor as well to make sure that they can see the "chalk board" but more importantly take them to insure that they have properly functioning airways and then take them to that myofunctional therapist. This will be the best money you could ever spend on your child's health!! You will save tons of grief (and money) on symptom treating therapies (drugs, orthodontics, and many other things). You children will be energetic (not sleepy) and they will be ready to process learning at school. It's the ultimate holistic treatment. OMT’s are simply trying to get your body to work and function the way it was intended to function. They are restoring the primal blueprint, the "factory setting". Think of having flat tires and taking your car to the mechanic shop and none of the solutions to your driving problems with your tires includes putting air in your tires. The “solutions” discussed are to "use different gas" or to "get new brakes" or to "drive more slowly" but no one simply says ("you need air in your tires"). Everyone should have "air in their tires" but not many people do when it comes to proper facial development and proper breathing. Myofunctional therapists will put "air back into your tires".

If you see a face on the street that you think looks "healthy"; if the facial proportions look balanced and you can see their teeth and they have a lower jaw that isn't receded, you can be certain that this person has proper oral posture and that their tongue is positioned up against the roof of their mouth and that they breath through their nose. They don't just look healthy—they likely are healthy.

And, don't forget that you are never too old to address improper oral posture and mouth breathing. I have heard from myofunctional therapists that they treat just as many adults as children. I couldn't do the type of dentistry I do without myofunctional therapists. It is imperative. They are an indispensable piece of the puzzle; the puzzle that includes health and esthetics. It doesn't get any bigger than that.